Wonderful Saintes

Distance : 30 km / 29 minutes by car

Abbeys and cloisters / Roman times / lively city / family or couple walk

Saintes was founded more than two thousand years ago by the Romans and is a pilgrimage stop on the Via Turonensis of the Way of Saint James. The basilica of Saint-Eutrope is part of the world heritage "Les chemins de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle en France".

It is a small city, so you can enjoy it very well on foot and take your time. It has a very rich and interesting heritage to visit and enjoy. It has the label of city of art and history since 1990.

It is extremely helpful to get the city map from the Saintes Tourist Office which is right next to the Germanic Arch, Saintes is very spread out, there is quite a bit of walking if you want to visit everything, and it would be easy to overlook some of the highlights without the map which shows suggested places to visit and routes to follow.

A good plan for parking?

To park the car, we discovered an address where you can park for free and allows you to enter the historical center from the heights of the city, which allows you to start the visit with a panoramic view on the roofs of Saintes and the cathedral of Saint-Pierre. To program the GPS to this parking (230 places) use this address: Place du 11 novembre, Saintes.

Once the car is parked, to get to the center of the city walk towards the Capitol Square to discover a panoramic view of the city and start the descent on foot. From this parking lot, while walking, you have another option of visit: as you are on the heights of the city, to avoid going back and forth, and getting tired of going up and down, you can visit first thechurch of Saint-Eutrope and its crypt of the end of the 11th century which is very close. If you don't mind walking, a little further on foot is the Gallo-Roman amphitheater.

The other free parking lots on the left bank(pedestrian sector/Cours National): Square Goulebenèze (148 spaces), Place Emile-Combes (80 spaces), Place de l'Aubarrée (66 spaces), Place Saint-Vivien (24 spaces)

The other free parking lots on the right bank (further from the center but close to the Abbaye/Avenue Gambetta sector): Espace Mendès-France (1,700 spaces), Place Geoffroy-Martel (210 spaces), Esplanade du 8 mai 1945 (150 spaces), Place Eugène-Fromentin (65 spaces), Rue René-Cassin (37 spaces)

The history of Saintes is exceptional

It has a rich cultural heritage, with its emblematic places, such as the Gallo-Roman amphitheater or the Arch of Germanicus.

Treat yourself to a visit of the city and its many vestiges. Whether you have a few hours, a day or several days, here is a selection of must-see places to visit:

St. Peter's Cathedral was built on the site of an ancient Christian building from the 6th century. The present building is the result of numerous construction and restoration campaigns from the 12th to the 18th century. It was largely rebuilt from the middle of the 15th century and very few of the old elements have been preserved.

The church of Saint-Eutrope and its crypt, in Romanesque style, was built in 1081 to house the relics of the evangelist of Saintonge, Saint-Eutrope, and became an essential stop on the way to Santiago de Compostela. The crypt dates from the 11th century and IS one of the largest in Europe, the enveloping and mysterious atmosphere invites to meditation and spirituality! An essential stopover on the Way of Saint James, it is classified as a World Heritage Site by Unesco. As big as the one in Chartres, it houses in its center the sarcophagus of Saint Eutrope. It is a really impressive place!

The church of Saint-Vivien, is dedicated to the bishop of Saintes, Vivien. The present church, in neoclassical style, is built on the remains of three Christian buildings.

Gallo-Roman amphitheater, located on the side of the city (20 rue Lacurie 17100 SAINTES), the entrance to visit it costs about 3 euros per person.

The amphitheater of Mediolanum is one of the earliest in Gaul. It is possible that its construction began during the reign of Tiberius (14 - 37 AD), and was completed during the reign of Claudius (41 - 54 AD).

Like many amphitheaters of the Roman Empire, the one in Saintes was built on the outskirts of the ancient city in a chosen and developed site: the "Vallon des Arènes". Thanks to a favorable topography, the builders were exempted from part of their work, the amphitheater leaning on the slope of the valley.

This elliptical monument, with imposing dimensions, allowed to welcome several thousands of spectators around bloody and violent representations such as fights of gladiators (munera) or hunts of animals (venationes).

The arch of Germanicus marked the main entrance of the Roman city in front of the bridge that crossed the Charente. Its two arches corresponded to the two directions of circulation of the time. Dedicated to the emperor Tiberius Drusus and Germanicus, it was built by a nobleman named Caius Julius Rufus around 18-19 AD.

It is a sober monument decorated with fluted pilasters and composite capitals with an entablature bearing inscriptions. It underwent some transformations during the medieval period and was promised to be demolished in 1843, along with the old bridge. It was saved by the intervention of Prosper Mérimée, thanks to whom the arch was dismantled and then reassembled on the Place Bassompierre. 15,9m long and 15m high, it is one of the best preserved Roman remains of the city of Saintes.

The Abbaye aux Dames, an ancient Benedictine abbey created in 1047, was the first monastery for women in Saintonge. These women of power were nuns, wore the crosier, minted coins and had a taste for enterprise. For a thousand years, people have been thinking, sleeping, trading, studying and praying at the abbey... The influence of the abbey was immense.

Today, it is the city of music, a place of training for musicians and theater actors. It opens every day at 2:30 and 4:00 pm. You can also enjoy its many concerts. It is a place that, even today, exudes peace and tranquility, in addition to having a very beautiful aesthetic.

Former convent of the Jacobins, installed in Saintes since the 13th century, the Jacobins decided to build a monastery at the foot of the cliffs. The property was completely destroyed during the Hundred Years War and rebuilt in the 15th century. Today, it houses the François Mitterrand Municipal Library, which has an important collection for adults as well as for children and young people, and often organizes temporary exhibitions and activities around reading.

The Saint-Saloine thermal baths are the remains of one of the many thermal baths that Saintes (Mediolanum) had in Roman times. Of rather reduced dimensions, these thermal baths date from the third quarter of the first century AD. Located in a relatively remote area, like the amphitheater, they were gradually abandoned and transformed into a necropolis from the 3rd century onwards.