Discover Pons and its historical treasures

Pons
Culture and Heritage

Bordering the departments of Charente and Gironde, Haute-Saintonge is one of the best-preserved and most authentic places in Charente-Maritime. Halfway between Saintes and Jonzac, the small medieval town of Pons was once an important stop on the road to Santiago de Compostela. This medieval city is full of architectural treasures that have survived the centuries and can now be visited, to the delight of history buffs and the curious who venture there. An exciting day in prospect!

Here are the top 5 historic places not to be missed during your next visit to Pons, in Charente-Maritime.

The Dungeon of Pons

Arriving in Pons, the imposing silhouette of its keep sits proudly above the landscape, a testament to the strategic historical role that Pons occupied in the Middle Ages. Perched 30 meters high on a rocky promontory, this spectacular rectangular tower dominates the town and the entire valley of the Seugne, a tributary of the left bank of the Charente.

Inexorably drawn to this majestic military building, we begin our day of sightseeing at the foot of the keep located on the central square in Pons: the Place de la République. It is also the ideal starting point for exploring Pons because this central square also houses the Pons municipal car park, which is convenient for parking our car.

This medieval keep is the finest example of a Romanesque keep typical of western France. Its construction was completed in 1187 by Lord Geoffrey III following the destruction of a first castle built by Richard the Lionheart, then King of Aquitaine. Its stone walls are 2.5 meters thick on three sides and 4.40 meters thick on the north side. A true fortress that has resisted numerous assaults!

Climb the keep's 136 steps to the top for breathtaking panoramic views of the city, the Seugne Valley, and the surrounding region. The keep is open from the beginning of the Easter holidays until the end of the All Saints' Day holidays.

The Dungeon Tower

The walk along the ramparts of the Château de Pons

Pons Castle! Stop by the tourist office to pick up the discovery walk map

The starting point for the walk around the fortifications adjoining the keep, the old Château de Pons now houses the tourist office and the town hall. This very harmonious building, a former stately home, was built in the 17th century by Henri 1er d'Albret who succeeded the powerful dynasty of the lords of Pons.

From the terrace and gardens, the views overlooking the winding Seugne Valley are exceptional. Take the large stone staircase designed in 1665 with its 124 steps. As you descend this staircase, you can admire the green landscape surrounding us and the city's gigantic fortifications, the old medieval wall from the 12th century and the terrace built in 1630 on the cliffside. A pleasant moment of relaxation with beautiful panoramas of the river.

A superb walk around the fortifications

Visit the castles of Charente-Maritime !

Saint-Vivien Church

Located in the rue du Maréchal Leclerc below the town, the church and its splendid 12th century façade, miraculously spared by the various wars that shook the region, bear witness to the Saintonge Romanesque style. We stop for a few moments to admire this building without a bell tower, consisting of a porch and two lower niches similar to a triumphal arch. Listed as a historic monument since 1912, this church houses " Notre-Dame de Recouvrance ", a Gallo-Roman mother goddess of pagan worship whose primitive statue was discovered in 1252 by Franciscan monks, the Cordeliers fathers, during the construction of their convent. She is now the patron saint of Pons and Saintonge.

The sumptuous facade of the Saint-Vivien church

The Pilgrims' Hospital

Due to its location on the Via Turonensis, one of the routes to Santiago de Compostela, Pons became an important religious center for pilgrims passing through to eat and rest. The town was then adorned with churches, monastic orders and even a hospital specially dedicated to sick or injured pilgrims, orphans and the poor. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this former medieval hospice was built in the 12th century at the request of Geoffroy III, Lord of Pons. A remarkable heritage site that operated until the 18th century, it is one of the oldest hospital complexes in Europe.

It was once used for body and soul treatments. Its porch is particularly emblematic and leaves no one indifferent.

It was under this porch, sheltered from the rain and the sun, that the poor, the excluded, the beggars and the marginalized received their daily ration of blessed bread.

Another touching purpose of this porch was that orphans were left at the hospice at night, out of sight. At the time, abandonment was the most convenient way to get rid of a child who was socially embarrassing or whose parents could not support them financially.

The porch of the Pilgrims' Hospital

Don't miss a visit to the hospital's medieval medicinal garden, where more than a hundred plants with numerous therapeutic properties grow together, divided into four areas:

The square of fevers;
The square of the vulnerable;
The women's square;
The square of moods.

In the Middle Ages, the medicinal garden was an integral part of daily and spiritual life!

The Castle of Enigmas

Let's leave the Middle Ages for a leap into the Renaissance with this spectacular building erected in 1536 by the family of Madame de Rabaine, the wet nurse of the future King François ^I. A true architectural gem, unique in its kind, the castle was previously a "pearl" of the Renaissance, originally located in Usson, 8km from Pons. In 1886, the castle was dismantled and reassembled stone by stone by William Augereau according to very precise plans. A remarkable work which also allowed to give a new lease of life to the building moved to Les Egreteaux, a small place called Pons.

Now transformed into a leisure park for families and children, it has been renamed the Château des Enigmes and offers various fun trails, treasure hunts and Escape Games! An adventure that combines adrenaline and heritage discovery of this magnificent Italian Renaissance castle listed as a Historic Monument.