Travel Guide Bellevigny

Only 10 minutes north of La Roche-sur-Yon, in the direction of Nantes, Belleville was the seat of a lordship as early as the 10th century and developed with Olivier de Clisson, Constable of France, son of Jeanne de Belleville. During the Revolution, the castle of Belleville and its lands were sold as national property. Today, the moat of the castle remains as well as some foundations of the old walls dating back to the 12th century, near the former house of the Reillet-Gouin-Yvernogeau. Some vestiges of the past remain: a porch, located at the northern crossroads, remains of the old chapel (12th century) of the castle, in Romanesque style. It is in this chapel that Charette used to go to hear mass. The remains of the old manor house of La Jarriette (rue de Charette, which extends the D6) where Charette established his headquarters in 1794 and 1795, the officers' mess (today a public school). Behind a beautiful house whose lintel bears "1836", there are still buildings ordered by Charette to accommodate Louis XVII. Opposite, in the Bordinière district, are the barracks and the stables. The remains of seigniorial residences: la Sauvagère, le Petit Logis, le Petit Beaulieu where King René d'Anjou stayed in November 1456, le Bossé, a former dwelling with a double row of boulins (dovecotes), Lande-Blanche, a former Templar commandery, as well as the remains of moats and stones with Maltese crosses and the arms of Anjou.