Discover the surrounding area
Port d’Envaux
It was a very active shipping port until the 19th century, when stone, paper, salt, fertiliser, wine and spirits were shipped to the UK. The ship-owners’ houses lining the quays of the Charente give the village a special cachet. The Pré Valade, on the banks of the Charente, has been laid out for relaxation.
Les Lapidiales
Only 500m from the village, the old stone quarries welcome sculptors in residence from May to September. They sculpt directly on the quarry face on themes that reflect the 4 elements: water, earth, air and fire. Free admission to the site all year round.
The Stone of Crazannes Nature Centre
Overgrown with lush vegetation, these former stone quarries are a true labyrinth of nature and history. Guided tours from mid-February to mid-November along the quarrymen’s route (10 staircases, 280 steps). Booking recommended.
Genny La genette trail, unguided tour (no stairs).
Tel: 05 46 91 48 92. Access to the site via the D119 and RN137 and the Crazannes autoroute service area.
The Arnoult market gardening valley
A true vegetable garden in Saintonge, appreciated for the quality of its vegetables, of which the “mojhette”, a semi-dry white bean that can be found from August onwards at all the region’s markets.
LES EGLISES ROMANES A L’OUEST DE SAINTES
A Ecurat
Church of Saint Pierre, 12th century: Romanesque building of remarkable homogeneity; barrel-vaulted bell tower; portal sculptures from the second half of the 12th century. Open daily.
Nearby: Plassay church, Romanesque chevet and neo-classical façade. Open on request, contact the town hall.
Geay
Its architecture is characterised by the extreme sobriety of the decoration, the chipped modillions and the canted apse.
Romegoux
Un vitrail monumental contemporain éclaire l’église gothique.
A La Vallée
Church and dolmen of La Pierre Levée
A Beurlay
It has a beautiful chevet, typical of the Saintonge Romanesque style. Inside, sculpted capitals. In the village, the Freussin spring-washhouse.
500 m from the church, the windmill, a traditional Saintonge mill dating from 1817, is now in perfect working order.
Sainte Radegonde
From the 11th and 12th centuries.
Pont l’Abbé d’Arnoult
A 12th-century church was built on top of an older one, the 11th-century rubble stone foundations of which are still visible. It was listed as a historic monument in 1887. It has a beautiful Romanesque portal. The current bell tower, which rises above the façade, is topped by a Gothic spire. It replaced the old one at the transept crossing in the early 16th century. After the Wars of Religion, the abbesses of Saintes took charge of restoring the monument: the south arm of the transept became a Gothic chapel communicating with the priory, and an apsidal chapel was added to the north arm. The square bell tower has a flamboyant Gothic octagonal spire. The bell dates from 1607 and was listed as a historic monument in 1908.
The gate at the entrance to the town next to the church is a vestige of the enclosure built in the 13th century. The priory buildings can be seen from the outside.
Saint Sulpice d’Arnoult
With its portal decorated with birds and bunches of grapes, framed by lions. From the 12th to the 18th century.
Corme-Royal
Saint-Nazaire church, modified and fortified in the 14th century, belonged to a former priory (12th century). The façade is sculpted with parables of the wise and foolish virgins, vices and virtues; saints, a man-at-arms an abbess; and the Christ presenting the Gospel in the doorway arches. Inside, the holy water stoup is carved out of an ancient inverted capital decorated with acanthus leaves.
La Clisse
The church’s capitals date from the 1st Romanesque period. Between the church and the town hall, a pleasant wooded walk leads to a “gariote”, a small dry stone structure that was once used by farmers as a shelter in the fields.
Le prieuré de Sainte-Gemme
A dependency of La Chaise Dieu since the 2nd century, the church and monks’ buildings were built in the 12th century.
Don’t miss: the front nave of the church with its portal decorated with flowers and foliage, the Romanesque sculpture, the monks’ buildings, the ethnographic museum, the collection of medieval sculptures and the 3D reconstruction of the priory in the Middle Ages. Tel: 05 46 96 64 13.
Nieul-lès-Saintes
The medieval castle of Nieul-Lès-Saintes: Guided tour by the owner of the towers, curtain walls, parapet walk, drawbridges, medieval room and underground room. Website
The 12th-century church of Saint Martin has a sculpted portal with figures dancing and playing musical instruments, and a primitive ribbed crossing inside. Find out more about small heritage sites…
Romanesque capitals in the church of Saint Georges des Coteaux, at the crossing of the transept, carved with lions, the dragon (struck down by Saint Georges) and wickerwork motifs. Learn more