Saintes

Saintes is a city on the Charente river in Charente-Maritime, in southwestern France. It was the capital of the historical Saintogne County, many landmarks from its glorious past have been preserved, and as such it has been classified as a Ville d'art et d'histoire ("City of art and history").

General
Saintes sits at a curve of the Charente River, among wet meadows and green hills, and has throughout history been a crossroads right in the heart of Charente. The city has a long tradition as a trading point with its monthly markets going on for centuries, and is still today a regional centre for businesses and services. With 25,000 inhabitants in the city and 60,000 in the urban area, it's the second largest city in the region after La Rochelle.

The oldest attractions in Saintes are from the Roman Empire, including the Arch of Germanicus and the ruins of an amphitheater and as such it has a heritage reaching back two millenia in history. The historical center on both banks of the river has been pedestrianized and it's made up of four districts: Saint-Pierre around the cathedral, Saint-Eutrope around the basilica, Saint-Vivien and Saint-Pallais around the Abbaye aux Dames and the railway station. The old town, Vieux Saintes is truly the beating heart of the city, lively and full of charm. You can walk up the narrow alleys to the Capitole hill for nice views of Saintes with surroundings.

Also the surrounding region has a lot to offer. The city sits in the middle of the "Atlantic arc" (l’arc atlantique), with the beach resorts of the Côte de Beauté (Royan, Vaux-sur-Mer, Saint-Georges-de-Didonne) just around 30 km away. Famous wine regions are close by as well, here cognac, Pineau de Charentes and Médoc and other Bordeaux wines are made. The vineyards, wheat fields and meadows of Saintogne are in themselves beautiful and have become the theme of many paintings by 19th-century artists such as Gustave Courbet and Jean-Baptiste Corot.

History
The region has been inhabited since at least the third millenium BC, as per archaeological discoveries in Diconche in the south of the municipality. Around 500 BC a Celtic tribe, the Santons, settled in the area, and from them comes the region's name Saintonge. Saintes was established by the Romans, named Mediolanum Santonum and was the main city of the greater region of Aquitaine.

As the capital of the southwestern quarter of Gaul, the area from the Pyrenees to Loire, during Roman times many grand buildings were built - basilicas, a forum (likely on Capitol hill), thermal baths, arches dedicated to Tiberius and Germanicus, and aqueduct and an amphitheater seating 15,000. The city had right-angled streets, a sewer system, and was connected to the capital of Gaul, Lyon, by a major road (part of the Via Agrippa network). It also had a harbor named Portus Santonum or Novioregum somewhere near present-day Royan.

In the third century CE when the Roman Empire was about to fall apart, the region was attacked by barbarians from the north. The suburbs of the great city were abandoned, the inhabitants concentrated themselves to the inner part of the city, and some monuments were torn down and the material was used to fortify central parts of the city. The city's extent shrunk from around 100 hectares to 18 hectares, still it remained an intellectual center.



Christianity was introduced relatively early, by bishop Saint Eutrope who then became the patron saint of the city, and Saint Eustelle, both who became martyrs. Also three later medieval bishops of the city – Vivien, Trojan and Pallais - became canonized by the Catholic church. In 732, the city was burnt down by the Muslim troops commanded by general Abd-el-Rahman, and in 844 and 848 by Vikings. In the 11th century, the remains of St. Eutrope were found, and a grand basilica was built at the place (the current basilica is just a third of the size of the original) which became a destination for pilgrimage. At the same time a major convent was built on the other side of the river.

In 1152 Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine married Count of Anjou Henri Plantagenêt who became king of England two years later. Therethrough the region became an English possession, and trade with the British Isles made the region and Saintes prosper. Over the following centuries the city saw warfare between France and England several times, and it finally fell in French hands in 1404. Having been ravaged by several wars and the Black Death, the city rose again and a new grand cathedral was being constructed. This came to and end with the French Wars of Religion, and Saintes was sacked by Protestant troops in 1568. Finally, in the 17th century, when the inhabitants had revolted against the French king like many cities in the region, Cardinal Richelieu had torn down the fortified citadel. It was however spared the fate of nearby Royan which was razed to the ground.



During the 18th century Saintes was an administrative city with its own court. The leaders of the city wanted to modernize the city which they considered uncomfortable and dirty, and so the fortifications were razed to make place for grand new promenades. However the French Revolution interrupted the work, and the grand plans never came into being. Saintes was the capital of the new Charente-Inférieure department for some years, but Napoleon moved the capital to La Rochelle for strategical reasons. After the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, urban development proceeded though on a smaller scale.

In 1867 the railway reached Saintes, leading to the development of a whole new railway district, and about at the same time Avenue Gambetta was finished. Saintes was occupied by Germans during WWII and the strategically important railway district was bombed by the Allies on 24 June 1944, leading to almost 300 casualties. A few months later, the Germans were driven out of the city.

During the 1960s and 1970s large housing complexes were built, giving Saintes a different character. Another remarkable event was the floods of 1982, when almost 16 km of streets were under water. Today, Saintes is one of the main cities of the department, and the economic centre of the southern Poitou-Charentes region.

Climate
Saintes has an oceanic climate, but even as the city is just 30 km inland, the climate is notably more continental than at the coast with temperature differences of up to 5 degrees (warmer in the summer, colder in the winter). Still it has a mild climate with little rain (especially in the summer) and more than 2000 hours of sunshine a year, as is visible in the vegetation. Winds are usually moderate, though the odd storm may affect the region in the winter.

Talk
The people speak French like elsewhere in France. Many locals also speak the vernacular saintongeais also known as parlanjhe. Saintogenais is little represented in the media, but the local market is a good place to hear the language, and it has its own organization, Xaintonge. It's based on the Occitan language spoken here in the Middle Ages, and some words have entered the regional dialect of French.

By car
Saintes is one of the main road traffic nodes in the region, with bypasses to the west and south of the city.

Autoroute A10 (called L'Aquitaine) passes the city on the western side connects from Niort, Poitiers, Tours and Paris in the north and Bordeaux in the south. Take exit 35, and drive along the inner ring road to get to the city. A bit north of the city, A837 comes in from Rochefort, joining the A10.

Local roads come in from nearby towns and cities; on the coastal side D728 from Marennes and île d'Oléron to the west, and N150 from Saujon and Royan to the southwest. N141 comes in from Cognac, Angoulême and Limoges to the east (connecting to the Paris-Toulouse Autoroute A20), D137 from Rochefort and Saint-Porchaire in the northwest and Pons, Mirambeau, Blaye and Bordeaux to the south. D150 from Saint-Jean-d’Angély and Niort (via D650) in the north, D237 from Saint-Georges-des-Coteaux and Nieul-lès-Saintes just west of Saintes and D114 from Cozes to the southwest.

By train
Saintes is served by Intercité and TER trains, and there are trains from La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Royan, Niort, Angoulême, Toulouse, Nantes and Quimper. The closest TGV stations are in La Rochelle and Angoulême.

The is on the left bank of Charente, about 15 minutes on foot from downtown. The station building is a late 19th-century neoclassical building, which used to be the heart of a much bigger railway complex with technical and administrative buildings of the national railway company SNCF. It's accessible for mobility impaired people and has a shop and a restaurant.

By plane
There's an airfield for light aviation. The nearest airports with passenger services are in La Rochelle (60 km northwest) and Bordeaux (100 km south).

By bus


Transports Routiers de Voyageurs de la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine operates buses around the department. Eurolines in turn, has services all over Europe. The long-distance bus station is at the Cours Reverseaux near the old hospital.

By foot
Two Grande Randonnée long distance walking routes go through the city: GR4 from Royan on the Atlantic coast to Grasse in southeastern France, and GR360 (Tour de Saintogne), formed like a distorted oval going around the historical Saintogne region.

Moreover Saintes is an important stop on the Via Turonensis branch of the Way of St. James since the 11th century. Already in a 12th century guide to the route, pilgrims were urged to visit the grave of martyr Saint Eutrope in the basilica.



By car
During rush hour, summer vacation, some festivals like the National Day, Christmas and New Year, and the monthly fairs, there can be congestion on the roads, other than that traffic is usually calm. Problem spots include highways entering and exiting the city, the Gambetta and Saintogne avenues, and surroundings of major shopping centers. Much of the historical center is pedestrianized.

There are parking areas at the outskirts of the city where you can park for free. In the central parts of the city there's free parking at some places. Parking at the shopping malls costs.

By bus
Most of the Saintes as well as Saint-Georges-des-Coteaux is served by the local BUSS network. Other nearby towns and villages are served by Allo'Buss buses that operate on demand. There are three urban lines A, B and C, a shuttle service from the railway station to a few nearby stops, the earlier mentioned on-demand buses and Noctam’Buss services running at Friday and Saturday nights connecting nightclubs. A ticket valid for one hour costs €1.10 (€1.30 for Allo'Buss), and you can buy tickets from bus drivers or through the app. BUSS also operates school buses.

By bike
In the 2010s, dedicated bike lanes have been built around town. There's a bike borrowing service in the city, operated by Cyclocom. It comprises seven stations with bikes: tourist office, city hall, youth hostel, the D'une Fenêtre à l'autre house, Belle Rive and Bellevue social centers, and the Au fil de l'eau camping.

Bikes can be borrowed for one day at a time, and they need to be returned to the same station by the evening. Borrowing bikes is free, you need to pay a deposit of €150 and present a valid ID at the station when borrowing (the money will be returned when returning the bike). If you plan do use the service for several days, you can "subscribe" to the service by paying the same deposit and showing your ID at the city hall. You will need to do it just once, get a document to show when you borrow and return bikes, and get the deposit back when you end the subscription.

Quartier Saint-Pierre
The largely pedestrianized Saint-Pierre district corresponds to the historical center of the city from the river to Place Capitol. The streets, alleys, squares are buildings are laid out like in medieval times, though many buildings especially along the rather commercialized main streets, Rue Victor Hugo and Rue Alsace-Lorraine, date from the 17th and 18th centuries. In this part of the city you can find the impressive Saint-Pierre cathedral, and can walk up the steps to the Capitol Hill for panoramic views of the city.













Quartier Saint-Pallais
Saint-Pallais at the right bank of Charente is, like the former, also a protected district. It has it roots in the Roman era with some Roman constructions still standing and was for a long time the main suburb of the city (just outside the city walls).

During the middle ages, the Abbaye aux Dames and the Saint-Pallais church were built here. In 1259 when Charente formed the border between French and English possessions, present-day Saint-Pallais was a French city facing an English city across the river. Still today it retains its distinct character and the gardens along the river bank is a popular place for locals on sunny days.











Quartier Saint-Eutrope
The first buildings here were estates (villae) built for rich patricians during the Roman times, they also had built the large amphitheater here. In the Middle Ages, in turn, a basilica was constructed to house the remains of Saint Eutrope, which became an important stop for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. This is a green and calm part of the city, with some ancient houses lining steep streets between the basilica and the river and the Colline du Capitole which can be considered the balcony of the city.







Quartier Saint-Vivien
Saint-Vivien is separated from the historical center by the Cours National street, and corresponds to the ancient suburbs of Saint-Vivien and Saint-Saloine, that were founded around Christian necropolises. 18th-century bourgeois houses line the streets and there are traces from the Roman Empire here too, the ruins of thermal baths. There are few shops in this district and it's off the traditional tourist path.





Green spaces
In the 21st century the city government has been committed to expanding the natural areas of the city and preserving the biodiversity. There are three green areas covering a total of 220 hectares, making Saintes one of the greenest cities in the region.





River tours




Sports
Local sports clubs often welcome visitors to try out some sports such as different martial arts, water sports or team sports.

Cinemas




Buy
Cours National and Avenue Gambetta are the main shopping streets. The pedestrianized historical center has a lot of small specialized boutiques, especially along Rues Victor Hugo and Alsace-Lorraine.

Large supermarkets are unsurprisingly at the outskirts of the city; in the Parc Atlantique, at the Maréchal-Leclerc course, and in the Grandes Bauches, Terrefort and Fief-Mignon districts. The main shopping malls are Coteaux (around Leclerc hypermarket) and Hyper U.

Markets
The first Monday in the month, there's a fair in town, one of the most important fairs in the region. Expect to find what you're looking for and even more. In addition there's a market in somewhere in town from the morning to early afternoon every day except Monday.



Cuisine
The local cuisine benefits from the rich terroir. Traditional dishes often include meat (beef, Poitou-Charentes lamb, chicken and rabbit), fish and seafood as well as certain signature vegetables: cabbage, white beans from Pont-l’Abbé-d’Arnoult (locally called mojhettes), and the "sun vegetables" — tomatoes, zucchini and peppers.



The grand classics of the Charente cuisine are grillons (rillettes of meat cooked in its own fat), gigourit (offal and blood stew), cagouilles (snails cooked with breadcrumbs, garlic and white wine), and rabbit of beef à la saintongeaise, i.e. made with a sauce of pineau and cognac. Like much of southwestern France, foie gras and different confits are part of the traditional cuisine.

Specialities from the nearby coast include mouclade (mussels with cream) and éclade (mussels grilled on pine needles, a specialty of île d'Oléron). Oysters from Marennes-Oléron are served as such of with some shallot vinegar, crepes or sausages, are famous beyond the borders of France.

On the dessert side, there are the merveilles (beignets), millas (corn flour cake), torteau fromager (white cheesecake) and the galette charentaise (a type of cake with butter). The chichis, a variant of the Spanish churros, are also popular.

As well, the region is famous for cognac, and wines including le pineau des Charentes.

Budget


In addition, global fast food chains are present.

Drink






Media
There's more than a dozen radio stations, national and local. On the press side the Bordeaux newspaper Sud-Ouest has an editorial office in the city, and the monthly L'écho des Arènes presents local news stories.

Telecommunications
There's 4G coverage by the operators Bouyges Telecom, Orange, SFR and Free Mobile.

Stay healthy




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