Forest of Halatte

The Forest of Halatte (Forêt d'Halatte) in Picardie is one of the largest remaining blocks of natural old growth forest in France. Situated in the département of Oise near Senlis and Pont-Sainte-Maxence, it currently embraces 43 square kilometers. The Forest of Halatte is still a source of oak and beech timber. Together with the Forest of Chantilly and the Forest of Ermenonville it forms the "Massif des Trois Forêts". On the north it borders the Forest of Compiègne. [ [http://www.pontpoint-patrimoine.com/Foret_halatte.htm "Forêt d'Halatte hier et aujord'hui"] ]

In the commune of Ognon are the remains of a Gallo-Roman temple dedicated to a curative deity, built in the mid-first century CE and abandoned during the fourth century. The temple's stones were then quarried for reuse, and the site became overgrown by the forest. the temple was discovered and excavated in 1873-74 and more professionally examined in 1996-99. The objects discovered over the course of the excavation, including coins, votive offerings, fibulae and other jewellery, are exhibited at the Art and Archeology museum of Senlis. [ [http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3HPY The Gallo-Roman temple of the Forest of Halette"] ]

The inexplicable name "Halatte" first appears in a document of 1165, as "Locus Halachius". [ [http://www.pontpoint-patrimoine.com/Foret_halatte.htm "Forêt d'Halatte hier et aujord'hui"] ] A hunting accident in the Forest of Halatte claimed the life of King Philip IV of France, in November 1314. The forest was in part a royal domaine and otherwiose divided among clerics and nobles. To this day, boundary markers carved with coats-of-arms mark the old divisions. At the French Revolution, the whole forest was declared "domanal", a national property.

An obelisk raised to commemorate the King of Rome, Napoleon's heir, stands in the forest, south of Pont-Sainte-Maxence. [ [http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3TZ0 Obelisk to the King of Rome] ] The Forest of Halatte is traversed by a network of walking and bicycling trails maintained by the State. [The trails are covered in the guidebook "Promenons-nous dans les forêts de Picardie: Chantilly, Halatte, et Ermenonville" (Office National des Forêts).]

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