Chitry-le-Fort owes its name to the Latin castrum. The addition of ‘le-Fort’ refers to its church, which was fortified during the Hundred Years War. Nestled in a narrow valley, the village was unprotected by walls. This prompted the inhabitants to transform the church into a fortified castle. The ‘Grande Rue’ of Chitry-le-Fort divided the village into two districts until 1789: Chitry-Dessous, ‘under’ Tonnerre, and Chitry-Dessus, ‘over’ Auxerre.
In the 17th century, Chitry wine was renowned at the court of the kings of France, and to facilitate trade with Paris, the winegrowers were given the title of ‘bourgeois de Paris’. The arrival of phylloxera in the 19th century led to a decline in wine production, giving way to cherry trees. Chitry was awarded the ‘Remarkable Vineyard Village’ prize in 2008, and now boasts 200 hectares of vines and a few cherry trees. Chitry mainly produces aligoté, chardonnay and pinot noir on Kimmeridgian soils. The Chitry AOC has existed since 1993.
The village is also home to a 19th-century washhouse with an impluvium, dominated by a statue of the Virgin Mary, and numerous calvaries.
Chitry
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Nef De Leglise Office De Tourisme De LauxerroisThe Kimmeridgian is a geological period of the Upper Jurassic, dating back around 150 million years. Soils from this period are composed of marl and limestone with oyster fossils, which play a key role in the minerality of the region’s wines.
