Between businesses…
The insurance sector is the main sector of activity for the city of Niort. In second sector of activity, we find commerce which alone represents 5000 jobs. Two thirds of Niort's businesses are located in its city center. In fact, these are almost 430 institutions that we can count, from rue Brisson to the Place de la Brèche.
From ready-to-wear, to shoes, jewelry, leather goods, pharmacies, hairdressers via the restaurants et bars but also food shops and regional products, travel and real estate agencies and banks… There is a range of businesses available to you to meet all your desires and needs!
…Heritage
Downtown Niort his preserve and enhance its historical and cultural heritage over the years and has carried out numerous restoration and enhancement projects.
Characterized by its many cobbled streets, its half-timbered houses and its private mansions ; by its emblematic monuments such as Donjon ou Notre-Dame church ; its many museums the best known of which is the Bernard d'Agesci museum, all these buildings bear witness to the rich and varied history of the city.
Heritage not to be missed in the city center:
…and garden city
La nature is not an empty word for the city of Niort and the people of Niort benefit from it on a daily basis, hence its nickname “garden city”! How good it is to walk in the city center between parks, botanical gardens and islands of freshness. Classified “3 flowers” (Cities and villages in bloom) and “2 butterflies” (Terre Saine Poitou-Charentes), Niort was crowned in 2013 “French capital of biodiversity”.
Brèche Gardens
Formerly a large open-air car park, which since 2013 has become a real garden with an area of 4 hectares in the heart of the city center, arranged on the surface with, in the basement, a car park with 530 spaces and cinema complex. Between shade and greenery, it is good to stroll through these alleys, heading towards the garden with different essences and scents, take advantage of water jets during periods of high heat and of all leisure infrastructure present.
Garden plants
Direction Garden plants, which can be reached by place Chanzy around the Duguesclin Barracks. We are greeted by a majestic entrance gate dating from the 1850s. La panoramic view allows us to understand to what extent la nature is omnipresent at Niort. Ce historic garden, whose first development dates from the 18th century, was the subject of a recent restoration, within the framework of urban natural park.
It is fitted out as a terrace and can also be a real playground for athletes with its height difference of 25m. It plunges the dreaming visitor around the world with exotic plants and trees from all over the world (notably a huge tulip tree). The rustications, the old washhouse become a pond are unmissable and the numerous benches invite contemplation. The lower aisle is reserved for cyclists and pedestrians and allows you to reach Pré Leroy or the Quai de la Régratterie on the banks of the Sèvre.
Pré-Leroy Park
Pré-Leroy Park extend the bucolic stroll. In summer, the site hosts some of the sporting activities of Niort Beach. The houses on stilts give a seaside resort feel with the brand new swimming pool.
Port Boinot
Still following the Sèvre, we reach Port Boinot, former industrial wasteland converted since 2021. It is here that it will be possible to navigate the Sèvre Niortaise pedal boat, canoe, paddle without forgetting habitable barges. It is also here that the traces of the industrial past will jump out at you, dryer slats or the pelains recall that once upon a time chamois occupied these places.
