Route touristique de Saint-Florent-le-Vieil

Park your car in the car park at the St-Florent-le-Vieil Tourist Office.

(S/E) Cross the road to reach the Quai de la Loire opposite, then, just before the Maison Julien Gracq, turn right onto Rue du Grenier à Sel, then right again onto Rue du Couvent. Continue to the junction with Rue Jacques Cathelineau.

(1) Set off opposite, between the Saint Maurille Parish Church and the cycle parking area, continue through the car park and pass to the right of the Saint-Charles Chapel. Walk along the back of the Jacques Cathelineau private school until you reach the D751.

(2) Turn right, then take a quick right-left turn at the end of the street to take a small path between the houses. Follow this path for over 150 metres. At the junction, turn right onto Rue du Clos de Ville and follow the path to the next junction. Once again, turn slightly right onto Rue du Four, then turn right and head down to number 13 on the Grande Rue, where there is a commemorative plaque honouring the act of clemency shown by Charles de Bonchamps, commander of the Vendée armies.

(3) Then retrace your steps and walk back up the Grande Rue. Turn right between the two houses, then left, walking past the former Vendée War Museum, to reach Rue Charles de Renneville. Turn right; directly ahead of you are the former convent buildings of the Maurist Abbey, dating from^{the 18th} century. If the abbey is open, enter through the gate on the terrace side (otherwise, go through the cloister – with Rue Charles de Renneville on your left – to reach the Place d’Armes on your right). Cross the courtyard and the boules courts and exit. As you reach the Place d’Armes, the entrance to the Abbey Church is on your right. Walk round it, then head towards the commemorative column dedicated to the Duchess of Angoulême , taking in the panoramic view of the Loire Valley that unfolds before you from the esplanade. Then retrace your steps and continue via the Coteaux car park and Route des Coteaux, towards the cemetery.

(4) Turn slightly left and enter the cemetery, where the Saint-Sauveur Chapel is located; turn round towards the Coteaux car park and take the dirt track to cross the courtyard of the former Coteaux farm, which once belonged to the abbey. As you leave the farm, turn right onto Chemin Saint-Nicolas until you reach the left-hand bend.

(5) Turn right and take the path through the fields, towards the open-air café. Turn right onto the Promenade Julien Gracq and continue along the banks of the Loire. Go under the bridge to return to the quayside, then cross the road to return to the car park where you started (S/E).

-The Chapel of Saint-Charles
-Julien Gracq House
-Tour de la Gabelle: ‘The Gabelous’ were responsible for collecting the salt tax, the ‘gabelle’, levied here in Anjou, unlike in the Duchy of Brittany on the opposite bank, where salt was much cheaper. The ‘Gabelous’ were also responsible for monitoring and cracking down on smuggling of ‘white gold’ (salt), which was a major industry here.
-Champ des Martyrs: it was here that, during the Vendée Wars and particularly during the period of ‘La Terreur’, around 2,000 Vendéens were executed by Republican troops.
-Saint-Sauveur Chapel: built in the Flamboyant Gothic style at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. Inside, admire the magnificent ribbed vaults which rest directly on the walls; the whole structure gives a very special impression of lightness. It was in this cemetery that Jacques Cathelineau was originally buried before his remains were transferred to the Saint-Charles Chapel. Julien Gracq is also buried here, not far from the chapel.
-The commemorative column of the Duchess of Angoulême: a monument erected on the site of a former castle mound, it was unveiled on 22 June 1828 in memory of the visit to Saint-Florent-le-Vieil on 22 September 1823 by the Dauphine Marie-Thérèse of France (also known as ‘Madame Royale’, daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette), who came to pay tribute to the resistance of the people of the Vendée during the events of 1793.
-Abbey Church
-Sand ball game in the abbey’s former cloister: a game typical of the Loire region, involving throwing a wooden ball into a sandpit; each playing area consists of two sandpits facing each other. The game was originally played by boatmen, who would play it on the sandbanks when there was no wind. The activity can be watched free of charge all year round on Wednesday afternoons and Sunday mornings.