Sentier Détours N°1 – L'Éguille-sur-Seudre
The Détours de L'Éguille Trail allows you to discover the built and natural heritage of the town via its small side roads.
It leads from the cultural area to a typical area of oyster beds and old salt marshes. During the walk, many small buildings and picturesque places are to be explored, making the charm of the Saintonge village.
Route details
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TO SEE On the route
Office de Tourisme L’Éguille-sur-Seudre
Tourism institutions
Your itinerary
Step 1: DEPARTURE
The Jacques Daniel cultural space (native of the village and academician of Saintonge) brings together the foundation of the same name, the municipal library and the tourist office. To this typically Charentais building, a modern construction reminiscent of the wooden cabins on the port was added.
Step 2: The castle
This is the only one of the two towers that remains of the castle built in 1715. During the Revolution, it was distributed to the population in small lots to become a group of dwellings.
Going around it to the right, just before taking the small covered passageway on your left, you will be able to see a gargoyle.
Now, head to the swamp!
Step 3: The tip
Leaving the castle courtyard, continue to the right along Rue de l'Égalité to head towards “la Pointe”. This magnificent view over the Seudre and the Liman channel allows you to observe the surrounding villages: from Mornac-sur-Seudre on your left to Nieulle-sur-Seudre via the Marans bell tower.
Since the XNUMXth century, the marshes have been shaped by the hand of man. Their primary use was the production of salt. The “white of Liman” was considered the most beautiful and best in the entire region. From the XNUMXth century, the salt marshes were gradually replaced by oyster refining ponds. This is where they take on the green color of the “Marennes-Oléron” thanks to a microscopic algae: the blue navicula.
Step 4: The old tide mill
Return to the village with a passage in front of the old tide mill. Before being abandoned, it was similar to the Moulin des Loges in St-Just-Luzac on the other bank of the
Seudre which can still be visited. It has recently become the property of the Conservatoire du Littoral. Immediately after, turn left to reach the town center across fields.
Step 5: St-Martin Church
Go to the front of the church via the small streets. It was rebuilt in 1845, on the site of that of 1307, considered too small. The cemetery which surrounded it was then moved outside the village. The “Saint-Martin”, an exvoto from the mid-XNUMXth century, is a three-masted painted wooden ship. Every year on the occasion of the Sailors' and Labourers' Day, he was carried in procession from the port to the church.
Step 6: The port
This is the end of the walk!
This port is the result of the fierce will of the Éguillais. In the 1820s, the small stream of the Brande having filled in over the years, the inhabitants decided to build a port themselves and fought against the administration to win their case. Thanks to them, the village benefits from a structure protected by riprap (stone covering) directly overlooking the Seudre estuary.