Blacy: lavoir steps, evening
Steps leading up to the lavoir -- washing-house or laundry -- on the edge of the village of Blacy (in the Avallonais area of the Yonne département, Bourgogne / Burgundy, in eastern France), on a long, partly clear mid-October evening (in 2016, on a return visit to a spot where we had been in June 2009).
The lavoirs were public places where women could do -- or at least rinse -- their laundry, often functioning as social gathering places in the process. Historic lavoirs are common in Yonne, as they are in Burgundy and France in general; as interest in them has grown, maps and guides showing visitors their location have been prepared. Frequently, although not invariably, they are located on the site of small springs, since springs provided clean running water. In this view, there is a small trickle of water in a channel beside the steps.
The age of this particular lavoir is uncertain. Although it is popularly known as the "lavoir romain" or "Roman wash-house," it is unlikely to be so old; it is probably medieval. ("Romain" should perhaps be "roman," i.e., Romanesque.)
[Blacy lavoir steps sign evening light 2016 oct 15 f; DSCF0598]
Blacy: lavoir steps, evening
Steps leading up to the lavoir -- washing-house or laundry -- on the edge of the village of Blacy (in the Avallonais area of the Yonne département, Bourgogne / Burgundy, in eastern France), on a long, partly clear mid-October evening (in 2016, on a return visit to a spot where we had been in June 2009).
The lavoirs were public places where women could do -- or at least rinse -- their laundry, often functioning as social gathering places in the process. Historic lavoirs are common in Yonne, as they are in Burgundy and France in general; as interest in them has grown, maps and guides showing visitors their location have been prepared. Frequently, although not invariably, they are located on the site of small springs, since springs provided clean running water. In this view, there is a small trickle of water in a channel beside the steps.
The age of this particular lavoir is uncertain. Although it is popularly known as the "lavoir romain" or "Roman wash-house," it is unlikely to be so old; it is probably medieval. ("Romain" should perhaps be "roman," i.e., Romanesque.)
[Blacy lavoir steps sign evening light 2016 oct 15 f; DSCF0598]