A land of green tourism, Semussac guarantees its inhabitants and visitors a quality of life and environment conducive to relaxation and well-being. Surrounded by fields, the village has retained its agricultural vocation (witness the locomobile on its main roundabout). Coming from Bordeaux, Semussac opens the doors to the towns of Royan, Saint-Georges-de-Didonne, Meschers-sur-gironde and on the beaches of the coast of beauty.
A village full of little stories
Semussac is rich in a small heritage that can be discovered during the walk. Like many local rural villages, the market town is built on a limestone plateau. The dwellings have managed to preserve their aspect of traditional Charente houses. All around, fields and hamlets alternate and make up the landscapes of the town.
In the heart of the village, the garden of the charming little town hall looks like an almost secret place. At the foot of the spire of the bell tower-porch of the church, the place served as a priory. Sitting on a bench, in the shade of the trees and near the well, you treat yourself to a moment of calm and rest.
Le marsh of Chenaumoine extends towards the banks of the Gironde estuary. There is the tomb of Pastor Jean Jarousseau (1729-1819), a place of Protestant memory. During the oppression in the XNUMXth century, during the “Desert” period, he gave worship clandestinely in the swamp. The Marshal of Sénectère, governor of Saintonge is tolerant with regard to the pastor and leaves him to officiate. He sits in the barony of Didonne castle, today a large property visible from the road to Bordeaux.
In the XNUMXth century, the estate became a large farm completed by auxiliary buildings and outbuildings. These buildings have long housed the agricultural museum of Royan (now gone).
Le mountain mill (from the name of the hill from which it stands) belonged to the Roux family, as the plaque engraved inside signifies: “It was Roux who made this mill in 1795”. At the time, the family owned many mills in the region, whether in Floirac, Brie-sous-Mortagne, Epargnes and even in Saint-Seurin d'Uzet with the Monards flour mill.
Semussac, a sun-drenched region
Semussac remains in particular an agricultural commune in the Saintonge hinterland. Some hamlets are intended for cereals (Trignac, Fontenille, Chez Reine) and others for dairy farming (La Rivière, Chez Mouchet). Semussac has long been home to the Cornardeau dairy "Le Petit Semussacais", producer of "Le Vieux Porche" camembert, in reference to that of the abbey of Sablonceaux.
Semussac is today especially famous for its production of charentais melon with the presence of the company Soldive. The local soil and climate provide the best conditions for growing cucurbits.
The proximity of the Atlantic Ocean provides the humidity necessary for a quality product: both juicy and sweet.
This agricultural tradition is also found when comes the time of the animations in Semussac: the threshing festival and the melon festival. Games, contests, meals, dancing... Everything is brought together for moments of conviviality and sharing. During these events, we remember ancestral know-how.
The Semussac countryside can also be visited by bike with the mountain bike circuit n°10. More than 30 km on paths through fields to the first slopes of the Gironde estuary for breathtaking views.
Between land and sea, life is good in Semussac.
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The other communes of the between-two estuaries.
