City of Charente-Maritime, on the borders of the Gironde, Montendre takes place at an important tourist hub between Royan, La Roche and Chalais. It is located a hundred kilometers from La Rochelle and its famous port and fifty kilometers from the ancient remains of Saintes, not far from Jonzac.
Montendre has enjoyed a very old human occupation because of its strategic geographical location. Populated since Prehistory, it has a first real development in the Gallo-Roman era. The construction of several successive castles in the Middle Ages gives it a certain importance in the region, but it is the famous Combat of the Seven who marks it definitively in history. In 1402, the latter saw himself fighting in the fight to death seven French knights against seven Anglo-Aquitaine knights who will end in a French victory.
The town is booming in the course of the twentieth century, including the construction of many tourism infrastructure. It remains appreciated today for its charm, its geographical situation and its architectural heritage.
Installed on a spur of more than 110 meters high, the castle of Montendre was originally a Roman castrum. Although a first edifice was built in the 9th century, the latter was extensively reworked in the 15th century, before becoming an important Protestant place during the wars of religion. The building has preserved vestiges of all these eras, including a part of the enclosures, a round tower, a square tower, underground, and the facade of the house. The square tower now houses a museum of art and popular tradition with collections retracing the cultural history of the town and its surroundings.
In the town, you can admire the old halls octagonal and covered with a frame in the bottom of the boat overturned. They were completely rebuilt in the second half of the 19th century because of their state of obsolescence. In the late 1970s, they were rehabilitated and now host an exhibition hall occupied by craftsmen.
Built in the first half of the 19th century, the church of Saint-Pierre takes place on the remains of an old building of the eleventh century. Very sober in its architecture, it consists of a four-span nave covered with a curved vault. Inside, it is possible to admire a painting offered to the parish by Napoleon III.
Do not miss to admire the church of Saint-Pierre de Chardes, a modest country church built in the eleventh century. Sacked during the wars of religion, she saw her gray stone facade of the region rebuilt in the late nineteenth century. Surmounted by a small campanile, it shelters a bell classified with the Historical Monuments melted in the first half of the XVIIIe century.
While strolling in the commune, you will also be able to see the church of Saint-Babylas with its vaults of Romanesque style archaic, or the vault of Cross Gente placed under the protection of Our-Lady of the Seven Sorrows. The latter was enlarged in the 1960s, and enhanced with a painted fresco in the 1980s.
Built from 1822, the Protestant temple is located near the castle. Made up of a simple rectangular room, it is inspired by the austerity of the neoclassical style.
To enjoy sunny days and the great outdoors, head for the lake and its ten hectares of pine trees. Ideal for family walks, it offers games for children, a sports course, the rental of pedal boats, boats and canoes, and a supervised beach in the summer.
