Travel Guide Luçon

Just forty kilometers south of La Roche-sur-Yon, between water and land, between the plain to the north and the gates of the Marais Poitevin to the south, Luçon is linked to the ocean by a canal, as evidenced by its ancient port. Luçon was shaped by the monks of the Middle Ages and the bishops who succeeded them, including Armand-Jean du Plessis, Cardinal de Richelieu. The memory of Louis XIII's brilliant Prime Minister is omnipresent in the town where he stayed from 1606 to 1623, and of which he was the reforming bishop. A bishopric for seven centuries, this town in the south of the Vendée region boasts a number of fine monuments, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, which is more Gothic in style, but with some older Romanesque sections and more recent classical ones. It was elevated to cathedral status in 1317 and classified as a historic monument in 1906. Adjacent to the cathedral, you'll find a magnificent 16th-century cloister with remarkable furnishings and beautiful 18th-century houses in the Bourgneuf district. These romantic residences are embellished with small turrets and sculptures. To visit Luçon is to take a giant leap back in French history. A water tower dating from 1914, with its unique architecture, stands as a modern symbol of the industrious cathedral city. A veritable jewel of greenery in the heart of the city, the Jardin Dumaine is a 4-hectare park classified as one of the "Most Beautiful Gardens in France". Admire the pond with its bronze naiads, the bandstand, La Fontaine's fables illustrated in topiary art and the small orangery.