Discover loudun

Built about 1040 by Foulques Nerra (known as " the Noir" Falcon;), Count of Anjou, the Square Tower was used as observation post. It is one of the vestiges of a vast fortress. The walls reach 31 meters in height, with 2 meters thickness.

Top, you profit from a superb panorama on the Anjou-Touraine-Poitou crossroads. At the bottom of the Tower, you will be able to discover the garden of the medieval inspiration, including the plants in particular having been used for the development of the polychreston, drug worked out with XVII by Théophraste Renaudot.

Crédit photo : Père Igor, licence CC-BY-SA-3.0

The downtown area of Loudun, thanks to the remarkable whole of old houses, profits from a protection zone of the urban inheritance.

• Echevinage: Building of XV century

It was the property of the family of Plessis. Most famous among them, Armand-Jean, is not other than the Cardinal of Richelieu.

A dynasty of prosecutors of Bailliage, Diotte of Valette, was owner by marriage. The Diotte last of Valette was alderman.

From 1716 to 1820, it was the seat of the files of Bailliage (old Law courts). Echevinage is today a place of seminars and conferences with beautiful gardens.

• Old Houses:

Beautiful micaceous chalk stone private mansions of XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, turrets, porches d' entry…

An example: the house bearing Louis XIII the currency “Esse not videri” (“To be and not to appear”) located street of the Fitted Gate.

For making easier the discovery, the City and the Tourist office devised two circuits of walks: " History Side jardins" and " Streets in ruelles".

With History "side jardins" , you go an attack on the " haute" city; or the old fortress. You will discover in the passing, the square Tower, the Tower of bailliage, the walks Philippe Auguste and Foulques Nerra, the door and the district of Martray (one of oldest of Loudun). You meet famous names: Théophraste Renaudot, from which the native house is accessible to the public, the priest Urbain Grandier and the Business of Had of Loudun, etc…

Duration of the course:

"Streets in ruelles" , they are two hours of ambulation in the old streets, with discovered inheritance loudunais: the Collegial Sainte-Croix, the Echevinage, the Church Saint-Pierre-of-Market. Visible inheritance and inheritance hidden… to discover.

Crédit photo : Père Igor, licence CC-BY-SA-3.0

The America, the Asia, the Africa, the Oceania, brackish medium.

All the aquatic environments are presented in Loudun, thanks to 15 basins and vats.
In a tropical and exotic environment by fauna and the flora, you will discover each geographical area, with its associated biotope.

A didactic course thanks to coloured cards is proposed to you to know the zones, the methods of reproduction, as well as the behaviors of each fish.

Good diving with the tactile basin in the Aquarium of Loudun!