Vieux-Pont brings together commemorative history, medieval connections and a fortified granite manor house. The “2e DB Boucle de la Libération” cycling route also passes through the town. This gives you a choice of different themes when planning your trip: memorials in the town centre, the architectural history of the Manoir dit Le Désert, and a cycling route linked to the history of the liberation. You can decide whether you are most interested in the town’s historical connections, architecture or cycling.
Memorials in the town centre
The Borne du Serment de Koufra is in the town centre at the junction of the D 48 and D 784; the Stèle Baleyte stands right beside it. The junction provides a precise location, while the proximity of the two memorials presents them as related elements of local remembrance.
On 15 August, Lieutenant Briot led an advance on Vieux-Pont. The lead Sherman, No. 24 “Evreux,” was under the command of Maréchal-des-logis Gelis, with 17-year-old René Baleyte serving as gunner.
Medieval history and architecture
Two documents from 1212 record that Guillaume de Vieux-Pont and Guillaume de Boucey, both knights, granted Silly Abbey the right of patronage over the church of Saint-Hilaire de Briouze. This event links two named knights with an abbey and a church in Briouze. The precise date provides a medieval reference point alongside the history of commemoration and broadens the historical perspective on Vieux-Pont.
The Manoir dit Le Désert is a fortified granite manor house built at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. Projecting pavilions and a corbelled corner tower define its architecture. Since 14 March 1995, its façades and roofs have been listed as historic monuments. This makes it possible to distinguish the period of construction, the building’s characteristic features and the precise scope of the listing.
Landscape and cycling route
Part of the Vieux-Pont municipal area lies within the Natura 2000 site “haute vallée de l'Orne et affluents,” a Special Area of Conservation identified as FR 2500099. The Natura 2000 designation was current as of 19 July 2026. Vieux-Pont also received its first “Fleur” under the Villes et Villages Fleuris scheme. The protected-site designation and the “Fleur” describe different aspects: a legal site designation and a municipal award.
The “2e DB Boucle de la Libération” cycling route offers a concrete option for travellers who want to combine history and cycling. It starts in Écouché-les-Vallées, passes through Vieux-Pont and is 27.6 kilometres long; its difficulty is rated easy. The route links places traversed in 1944 by the 2nd French Armoured Division. Vieux-Pont is therefore part of the route, not its stated starting point. The comparison shows two different scales: the Borne and the Stèle mark remembrance in the town centre, while the cycling route passes through several places connected with the division. The distance and difficulty rating provide two practical points of reference for planning; check current route conditions before setting out.
Discover more destinations: Damigny, BellĂŞme, Ceton, SĂ©es, MĂ©nil-Hermei, Silli-En-Gouffern, Magny-Le-DĂ©sert, Torchamp
For the broader travel overview: Orne.
