Cherrie & Ian chose the Poitou-Charentes after falling in love with the area's traditional rural villages, which are surrounded by fields of sunflowers and delightful, unspoilt countryside. Coincidently, the region is the second sunniest in France, with 2,250 hours of sunshine each year. By 2012, the area will be generating 5.6% of France's electricity using solar power.
Local Area
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Melle
Melle
A little history...
Melle has been a settlement for over 2000 years and Neolithic evidence of its origins has been found. It was the Romans who discovered silver on the site and who first started to mine it. Much later, from the 6th century to the 10th century, the town's silver mines and its mint supplied coinage to the whole of Europe. During the 10th century, Melle superseded Brioux-sur-Boutonne to become the capital of the Pays-Mellois. The town has always been strategically important as a crossroads. It is situated on the Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle pilgrim route which heads south to Spain, and on the trade route from the port of Niort heading east to the rest of Europe.
Architecture
12th-century church of Saint-Hilaire; 12th-century church of Saint-Pierre; 11th-century church of Saint-Savinien (which was used as a prison during the 19th century); Hôtel-de-Menoc (palais-de-justice); Château-de-Gagemont; the remains of a 15th-century château; 15th-century Tour-de-Melzéard.
Resources & production
Silver mines; farming - crops, goats & cattle; production of goat's-milk cheese; a distillery.
Things to see
Valleys of the Légère, Béronne, Berlande & Somptueuse rivers; Melzéard lake; the "Fontaine aux Lépreux" on the Chemin de la Reine.
Things to do
Goat Festival (beginning of September); swimming pool; squash courts; riding club; fishing; botanical nature trail around Melle; guided tours of the silver mines; the Carolingian gardens.
Melle
Location map
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