Les Sept Ecluses de Rogny

Linking the two river basins "from the Loire to the Seine" by a canal with locks fed by a reservoir on the watershed was the daring project conceived at the end of the 16th century by the engineer Hugues Cosnier, encouraged by Henri IV and his minister Sully. The construction of the canal - the present Briare Canal - began in 1604: twelve thousand workers worked on it, protected from the threats of the big landowners by six thousand troops.
An exceptional engineering structure, consisting of six, then seven locks, made it possible to cross a 24-metre difference in level. The locks were put into service in 1642 and operated without interruption until 1887, when a new route was opened around the hill, with six spaced locks adapted to the new Freycinet gauge. The Seven Locks of Rogny remain an amazing work of art.