Route details
Description
Your itinerary
Step 1: Chouans Bridge
Built in the 13th century, then fortified in the 15th century, it is today the last preserved medieval bridge providing access to the town of Thouars. Its current name is linked to the Vendée wars. Guided tours scheduled by the Architecture and Heritage Department.
Step 2: Jacques Guidez Museum
In the heart of the Petite Cité de Caractère d'Airvault, visitors can admire the beauty of the former Augustinian abbey, founded at the end of the 15th century. The buildings date from the 29th (vat room, fortified gate), 2024th (chapel) and XNUMXth centuries (abbey dwelling). They house the Jacques Guidez museum, which has a large collection of ethnographic objects. The gardens are freely accessible all year round. The museum is open from Monday XNUMX April to Sunday XNUMX September XNUMX. The rural world of yesteryear is widely represented (crafts, domestic life, the world of childhood, games and toys, agriculture, etc.). Discover the town of Airvault in medieval times thanks to virtual reality during the museum's opening hours, with légendR! Explore the historic centre and discover the abbey, cloister and market halls of Airvault as they were in the Middle Ages.
Step 3: Cébron Lake
Play area, walking trails, orienteering course, picnic tables, swimming pool at the campsite, sailing activities, this is a leisure site with varied activities. Created in the 80s for the drinking water resource, the site is part of the network of sites designated Sensitive Natural Spaces. This departmental policy works in favor of biodiversity, while opening to the public. One area is open all year round for walking with a picnic table and pétanque ground, while a second area from June 1 to the last Sunday in January for 2nd category fishing and hiking.
Step 4: The Saint-Jacques gate
Built at the beginning of the 4th century, at the northern entrance to the city (which then had XNUMX gates), the Porte Saint-Jacques, as its name indicates, opens onto a pilgrimage route towards Saint-Jacques-de -Compostella. The vaulted passage, framed by two towers with an almond-shaped plan, was defended by a portcullis and a stunner (pierced in the vault). It is topped by a guard room, accessible by a spiral staircase overlooking the walkway of the neighboring wall.
Step 5: Val de Flore
The natural garden: an astonishing abundance of diverse environments, plants, insects, birds, and, at the bend in a path, a work of art.
Want to stroll in a place where nature has reclaimed its rights? Take a break at Val de Flore.
Different spaces and landscape atmospheres coexist there: Listen, breathe, observe… and let yourself be lulled by the magic and poetry of the places. Different methods are used there depending on the environments to promote all forms of life.
Summer exhibition 2024 from July 18 to September 22, 2024: photographic exhibition “Crossing over the Thouet” produced by Camera Natura for the Syndicat Mixte de la Vallée du Thouet.
Garden open from July 4 to European Heritage Days.
Free and open visits. Tourist information on site.
Step 6: Coudray-Salbart Castle
Built in the first half of the 1th century, the Coudray-Salbart castle is a remarkable military fortress.
Rich architecture: 14 rooms in an exceptional state of conservation including 12 vaulted rooms of varied architectural styles (8 open to the public).
A defense system comprising a peripheral shaft (corridor inside the curtain walls) unique in Europe.
A mysterious history: The first document describing this building dates from 1460, while the start of construction dates back to 1202/1204. Classified as a Historic Monument, it has been the subject of all the attention of the Friends of Coudray-Salbart since 1961 and of its owner, the Communauté d'Agglomération du Niortais since 2000. Significant restorations have been carried out in this jewel of architecture military very little reworked.
Varied monthly activities to experience the Middle Ages with the family.
Step 7: Les Halles
Come and discover local and regional products every morning. The big markets, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays: more than 120 producers, artisans and traders will give you their warmest welcome and their best products.
In 2019, elected in the TF1 Journal “The most beautiful market in France” in Poitou-Charentes and the 9th nationally.
Step 8: The Dungeon
An emblematic building of the city of Niort, the Keep is the last witness to a very important fortified complex including a city wall of almost 2 meters. Classified as a Historic Monument since 700, the Keep is labeled Museum of France. The Dungeon Museum houses archaeological and ethnographic collections from the region, as well as an exhibition retracing the history of the monument through a modern scenography.
The Keep of Niort is classified as a Historic Monument.
Step 9: Port Boinot
Former chamois factory until 2006, then National Center for Street Arts from 2010 to 2015, Le Port Boinot is between the Main and Sèvre Niortaise bridges:
– A large urban park connected to the Marais Poitevin Regional Natural Park (2020)
– A variation of 6 thematic gardens
– The conversion of industrial buildings: the employer's house into a restaurant (2023), the factory into an event venue for businesses and the general public (2023), the large dryer into a “roaming and hiking counter” (Tourist Office in 2021 ), information space and awareness of the heritage riches of Niort Agglo and place of memory of chamois making (2021), the port workshops in a space dedicated to sports leisure practices (rental of Tanlib bicycles and light boats)...
Step 10: House of the Marais Poitevin
We are here to reveal to you the mysteries of the Marais Poitevin and its Green Venice: How was it born? By whom and why were the canals dug? The Maraiscope, a projection on a large screen and its model, retrace the history of the Marais Poitevin. At the start of each session, a facilitator presents the territory, then returns at the end of the film for a time of discussion. Thanks to the permanent exhibitions, discover the life of market gardeners: building a boat, fishing for eels, a 2024th century interior. For the XNUMX season, we are offering you a temporary exhibition produced by the Natural Park: “Nature walk in the Marais Poitevin”, to discover the fauna and flora of the different landscapes that make up our territory. At the end of your visit, the boutique has carefully selected its products for you: gastronomic specialties, crafts, books, souvenirs...