Balade en famille à grands pas à Saint-Martin-de-Ré

Leave the Tourist Office towards the port, then walk along the Quai Job Foran to the intersection with Rue Baron de Chantal.

Le Port - Wine and vines in general, planted by monks in the 12th and 13th centuries, were the area's first source of wealth. Today, 650 hectares of vines produce 30 to 35 hectolitres of wine per hectare, or around 2 million bottles a year.
Salt was also a major export. Up to 30,000 tons of white gold were harvested at the beginning of the last century. Today, the marina consists of 2 basins: one connected directly to the sea and the other afloat (filled with water) 24 hours a day. It can accommodate over 200 boats.
La carte des Bagnards - A bagnard was a convict sentenced to the galleys or forced labor in the bagne, a prisoner detained at the citadel of Saint-Martin-de-Ré between 1873 and 1938, one of whom drew this map during his imprisonment. The forçats (convicts) sailed to New Caledonia and French Guiana from the port of Saint-Martin.

Turn left up Rue Baron de Chantal.

The sculpted skull and crossbones are the work of Monsieur Thézard, expressing his displeasure and hatred of World War II and its atrocities.

Turn right into Cours Bailly des Écotais, then left into rue Bailly d'Aulan.

The church - We don't know when it was built, but we do know that by 1610 it was already in ruins. Over the centuries, the church has suffered many destructions. Firstly, in 1627, when the town was under siege from the English, Marshal de Thoiras (defender of the Ile de Ré) ordered his troops to raze the church to the ground to prevent the enemy from installing their cannons. In 1696, the Dutch dropped over 3,000 bombs on Saint-Martin, destroying over more than 300 houses and, of course, the church. In 1694, a fire broke out, completely destroying the roof structure and choir.
In architecture, the choir, from the Greek khoros (ensemble of singers), is the part of a church reserved for clergy and liturgical, or Gregorian, choirs. In spite of all this damage, the inhabitants of the town have worked to rebuild and renovate what is still the only Catholic place of worship.

Go up Rue Bailly d'Aulan to Place de la République.

Place de la République - built in 1685 by Vauban on a former Catholic cemetery. At the time, it was a strategic location, equidistant from the port and the town's two gateways (the Porte des Campani and the Porte de Thoiras). In the event of an attack, this enabled soldiers to be deployed efficiently. It was successively named "place d'armes", "place Louis XIV", "place Louis XV", "place Nationale", before becoming "place de la République".

If you still have some strength left, continue along Rue Carnot and Rue Aristide Briand to the next monument.

The Porte des Campani at the entrance to rue du Rempart, there's a second, very similar one, the Porte de Toiras, on the other side of Saint-Martin-de-Ré. Both were the only entrances to the town in the 17th century, and could be closed, like those of a fortified castle, to protect the population in the fortified town.

Head back towards the port via the Cours Pasteur, where you can now cross the road. Watch out for cars!

You'll discover the fortifications, with a breathtaking view of the moat! On your right, you'll find a hotel and, just opposite it, a secret passageway known as the Poterne, which will take you to the heart of the ramparts, where you can discover the sheer size and scale of these constructions. A poterne is a small door discreetly built into the walls of a fortification, allowing the castle's inhabitants to enter or leave at will.
without the besieger's knowledge. Fortifications - Imagine 12 kilometers of walls surrounding the city, yet in the 17th century there was no machinery or concrete to build them all. Instead, workers used lime (the natural concrete of the time) to glue the stones together. The main components of this natural glue were wood from the forests of Poitou, limestone extracted from the Taillebourg quarries and brought back by boat and on the backs of animals, and last but not least, the essential fuel, coal, imported from England, our great rival at the time.

Now it's time to take a rest, or head back down to the port, continuing along Cours Pasteur. Stroll along the ramparts, then back down to Quai des Torpilleurs, which runs alongside the dock. From here, Quai de la Poithevinière takes you to the market.

Arrival : Le Marché - After two centuries of negotiations between the hospice (manager of the building) and the commune, the latter remains the sole owner of the market. The covered market was built on the site of a former Protestant temple, razed to the ground after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes: the Sun King (Louis XIV) declared that no religion other than Catholicism was authorized in France. This was a major blow for the Protestant minority, which was still fairly numerous despite previous persecution and bullying.