HF3 - Gerhenne - 9km

After the last house on Rue de Vonêche, the walk follows the Voie aux Brulins. The Bois de Gerhenne lies to the left and the Beau Mousseau to the right. A mixed presence of trees of all ages can be observed.

A path descends toward the Wimbe, which has its source at the foot of Haut-Fays. The Dartois Sawmill was built in 1858 on the site of an older sawmill. At the end of the 19th century, the Dartois sawmill ranked first among the sawmills in the Saint-Hubert district. It operated for a century.

Crossing the ford leads into the Gerhenne woods. The small Lordship of Gerhenne survived until 1795.

After the railway tunnel, following for 700 meters a forest path that runs along the railway line to the north, the route reaches the Napoleon Beech (marked “HN” at the side of the path). On April 24, 1810, to commemorate the marriage of Napoleon I and Marie-Louise of Habsburg, two trees were planted at this elevated spot. The present Napoleon beech is the only survivor.

Of the Saint Agatha Chapel, only the support stones of the roadside shrine remain here. The shrine itself was moved in 1957 to the village square of Haut-Fays.

The walk returns to the village by passing over the Gribelle Tunnel. At the Cemetery, a chapel shelters the remains of seven members of the Villers-Masbourg family, former Lords of Sclassin, transferred there in 1855. The Saint-Remacle Church, in Neo-Gothic style, dates from 1855.

On the village square stands the Saint Agatha Shrine. Agatha of Catania, a Christian virgin, was tortured under the Roman emperor Decius in 251. Her breasts were cut off and she was dragged over burning coals, yet she miraculously survived. She was invoked for the healing of breast ailments, for protection against fire and lightning, and for the welfare of livestock, especially dairy cows. A semicircular niche shelters the wooden statue, whose style recalls that of the Liège sculptor Jean Del Cour, who died in 1707.