Niort

Located 151 km north of bordeaux and 52 km ne of la rochelle, niort lies on the slopes of the hills on the left bank of the sevre niortaise river.

The donjon of niort  The two donjons are roughly square; the southern donjon measures 28 metres height, the northern donjon 23 metres. The northern donjon collapsed partially in 1749 and was rebuilt in 1750. At the origin, the two donjons, surmounted with a crenelated terrace and distant of 16 metres were connected between them by curtains between which extended a paved inside court. It is only in XVth century, that the body of central building was high.

Les halles  Since the XIIth century, Niort has become an active commercial town thanks to its dynamic river port. For a long period of time, its medieval market hall remains the "most beautiful and the most convenient of the kingdom".Les Halles, classified site, are the contemporary witness. This gourmandise temple is a "cathedral" of cast iron, glass and steel built in 1869, in the Baltard style.

Poitevin marsch  The Poitevin marsh is the old marine gulf of Poitou, and lies on a bed of hardened marine vases. One distinguishes through his 80 000 hectares, a dry marsh: on its soft vases the stockbreeders of mussels make slip their flat boats, and a marsh wet " Green Venice " extends on 15 000 hectares: its vases were fixed by the vegetation and were fertilized by the humus.

The saint-liguaire neighbourhood  You will discover this rural village coiled around its old benedictine abbey and its parish church.  Further, you will discover the Roussille, the ancien Rousseau chamois-leather factory and then,you will take the white paths between the river and the countryside.

The protestant church  Sold in 1800 at the Town of Niort, the church of the old Convent of Cordeliers (XIIIth century) was given to the Protestants in 1805 to celebrate their worship there. The Gothic building, strongly damaged during the religious wars, was restored under Henry IV and also in the XIXth century.

The four dragons and their legend  Four bronze dragons are separating the central area accessible to cars and the space reserved for pedestrians.  These dragons make it possible for the locals to join with a legend which reports the victory of a valiant knight over a dragon which haunted the Poitevin Marsh.

The regional pole of art and trade  Niort is the seat of the regional Pole of art and trade and the place of reception, exposure and animation of a thousand "creators" of the Poitou-Charentes area.  Niort invites also the visitor to push the door of the workshops to discover this ancestral know-how: jewellery, sculpture, cabinet work, ironwork.