Le Sentier des Crêtes
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Starting from the town hall of Pihen-lès-Guînes, the route climbs and then descends towards Saint-Tricat, passes under an arch, crosses a bridge, follows the Sainte-Marguerite path and then the locality of Pilier d'Or, before reaching the Pihen mill. It then runs alongside the departmental road to the train station, passes under the railway line and returns to the town hall.
©NohCab-Calais XXL Pihen-les-Guines
The name Pihen first appears in the founding charter of Andres Abbey in 1084, in the form Pithem, from the Germanic words pit (well) and heim (dwelling, village), which became Pihen. In 1923, the municipality adopted the name Pihen-lès-Guînes. The village center forms a "star-shaped route" where seven paths converge, several of which date back to the Middle Ages.
The town is crossed from east to west by an ancient road considered to be Roman, a branch of the Leulène River that runs straight from Thérouanne to Sangatte and connects Guînes to Wissant, a busy port of embarkation for England during the Middle Ages. This road is a section of the Via Francigena, a pilgrimage route that linked Canterbury to Rome. In the Middle Ages, Pihen was part of the County of Guînes, then remained in English hands from 1347 to 1558. A battleground between the kings of France and Spain, the town was under Spanish control from 1596 to 1598: the old 13th-century church suffered the consequences, being burned down during this period.
©Nohcab The Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation
The building's earliest foundations date back to the 13th century. Formerly dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, this church is undeniably charming. Today, only the chancel, polygonal in shape with three sides and lit by lancet windows, remains from that period. According to the notes of Abbot Haigneré, historian of the Pas-de-Calais region in the 19th century, a tower located between the chancel and the nave featured Romanesque arcades in its lower section; this tower no longer exists. The nave was rebuilt around the mid-19th century, preceded by a bell tower that serves as a porch and houses two bells.
©Nohcab The Pihen mill
Of this windmill dating from 1839, only a ruined tower remains today. Built of sandstone brick on a foundation of Landrethun stone, some old postcards refer to this structure as "Moulin Lay" or "Moulin Lay-Tristam". Near the entrance facing Calais, a niche dated 1879, still visible, once housed a painted wooden statue of Saint Donat.
It was a "tower" type mill: a fixed body in stone or brick, topped with a roof that could rotate 360° on its own, supporting Flemish-type sails that could reach 12 meters in length.
©Nohcab 
