One of the main villages in the area called La Venise verte, "green Venice," goes by the name of Maillezais [my-yuh-ZAY]. It's an old place. Over the course of the 11th century, starting in around the year 1000, a great abbey was built here and became a cathedral in the 1300s. It's now in ruins, a victim of the 16th century Wars of Religion between Protestants and Catholics; abandonment by the Pope in the 17th century in favor of a new cathedral in La Rochelle; and sale to a man who exploited it as a stone quarry from the time of the 1789 French Revolution and well into the 19th century.
La Venise verte is more officially called Le Marais poitevin — the Poitou Marshlands (wetlands, swamp). It's just outside the city of Niort, and not far east of the big town of Fontenay-le-Comte, in the Vendée département of western France. The marsh was drained over the course of the 11th century, and rivers were channeled. The canals nowadays are a tourist attraction. Maillezais is one of the major "ports" in La Venise verte.
You can rent barques (flat-bottom boats) and paddle or pole them around on the canals through the marshes. Or you can ride in a boat with a tour guide who serves as the batelier (boatman) and learn about the history, geography, and wildlife of the area.
What an idyllic spot. Anything left of the abbey ruins to be photographed these days?
ReplyDeleteThere are photos of the abbey/cathedral ruins on Google images. Unfortunately, we weren't able to enter the grounds because dogs weren't allowed entry.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a nice place for a little boat ride. We have a dusting of snow this morning- rare for Alabama so early.
ReplyDeleteWhat a surprise. The weather reports I see say the temperature in Morehead City today is in the 70s.
DeleteLooks lovely and peaceful. I wonder how far the canals extend in that area.
ReplyDeleteJust like Evelyn, we had a dusting of snow in NoVa during the night. Right now, in mid afternoon, it is only 35 F (1 C). So, I wonder about the accuracy of the temperature in Morehead City.
ReplyDeleteEven though you accused me of spreading fake news, I'll send this link. LOL
ReplyDeleteSomething strange happened with that link. When I clicked on it, it showed, for a fraction of a second, what I think were temperatures, almost immediately replaced by a string of digits that didn't seem to make any sense!
ReplyDeleteProbably, Morehead City was in some sort of a micro climate then.
The link in my comment just above works just fine on my tablet using either Firefox or Chrome. Strange that it doesn't work on your iPad or Mac. What it shows is that the high temperature in Morehead City on Nov. 15 was 72°F. It wasn't quite that warm on 11/14 or 11/16, when it was cloudy or rainy and in the high 50s. Morehead's climate is greatly controlled by the very warm Gulf Stream, which flows just 25 or 30 miles offshore. Prevailing winds come from the southwest.
DeleteDoes this link work?
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