Maissemy is part of the Type 1 ZNIEFF “Étangs de Vermand, marais de Caulaincourt et cours de l'Omignon”. This ZNIEFF covers 460.34 hectares and features a great diversity of aquatic and amphibious habitats. Its ponds are an important stopover and wintering site for waterbirds.
Those who choose Maissemy as a place to stay want to rent a holiday apartment there.
Nature and Bodies of Water
The Omignon flows through Maissemy. The river is a right-bank tributary of the Somme. The Étang de Bihécourt is shared by the areas of Maissemy and Vermand; it is a nesting site for resident birds and a stopover site for migratory birds.
In the wider surroundings of Maissemy, the “Des marécages aux portes de la plaine” hiking trail follows a former railway line, reaches the ornithological area of the Bihécourt ponds and leads into the marshlands of the Omignon Valley.
Culture and History
The German military cemetery in Maissemy was established in 1924 by the French military authorities. A total of 15,000 dead are buried there in two mass graves; overall, 30,481 victims of the First World War are buried in the cemetery. The German military cemetery is accessible via the D 33 road and is open year-round.
The Maissemy war memorial was inaugurated in 1924 and built in the colonial style according to plans by the mayor at the time, the physician Luc Arbel. The Church of Saint Peter in Maissemy was rebuilt in the 1920s after the First World War. The present church was built on the same site as the previous building.
The Vadencourt British Cemetery in Maissemy contains the graves of 760 soldiers of the British Army. 212 of the soldiers buried there could not be identified. Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Stephen Dimmer is also buried in the Vadencourt British Cemetery.
Other places: Moulins, Fossoy, Rouvroy-Sur-Serre, Bourguignon-Sous-Montbavin, Besmont, Vauxbuin, Cilly, La Neuville-Lès-Dorengt.
