Saintes Travel Guide

Within a short drive from Cognac is one of France’s most fascinating and beautiful towns. Saintes, the former Gallo-Roman capital of Aquitaine, boasts a population of just under 27,000. Romantically situated on the river Charentes, Saintes is a treasure. Its remarkable history, gorgeous location, and charming old town – a maze of cobblestone lanes, squares, markets, and cafes – all add up to something extraordinary indeed.

For centuries, the area known today as Charente-Maritime was occupied by a tribe known as the Santones. Living as hunter-gatherers, they thrived on this land until the Roman invasion of Gaul (France) in the last century BC. After Julius Caesar started his conquest in 58 BC, the Romans established a capital in Lyon. The Romans brought their infrastructure and technological advancements with them, including roads. A road that crossed the river Charentes was built to connect Lyon with Bordeaux, leading to the establishment of a settlement known as Mediolanum Santonum in approximately 25 BC.

Under the reign of Emperor Augustus, the ancient city of Mediolanum Saintonium played an increasingly important role as the Gallo-Roman capital of the Aquitaine province. As a vital strategic outpost in Gaul, the settlement was endowed with many elegant buildings, including a double arch that served as the town gate, an impressive overgrown amphitheater built during the reign of Claudius, and an archeology museum with unearthed statues, and even a chariot and harness.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Saintes fell under the control of the Frankish Merovingian and Carolingian families. During the Middle Ages, Saintes coasted along as a rather unremarkable town, certainly when compared to its heyday as a Roman capital. The medieval center more or less corresponded to the settlement that thrived in the Roman Empire without any new additions. Its fortified wall, built above the ancient ramparts, helped to protect the city from attack throughout the Middle Ages.

However, a massive political earthquake occurred in the 12th century when Henry of Anjou married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1154. Subsequently, over a third of France became the property of the English crown. This led to the Hundred Years’ War between the French forces and the English, allied with the Dukes of Burgundy. Many fierce battles were fought before the end of the conflict in 1453.

The Wars of Religion between the Huguenots (French Protestants) and the Catholic League in the 16th century also left deep scars on the face of Saintes. Many buildings were damaged or destroyed during the conflict, which threatened to tear the nation apart. The town’s Catholic Saint-Pierre Cathedral, dating from the 15th century, was severely damaged by the Huguenots in 1568.

Henry IV kicked off the Bourbon dynasty by issuing the controversial Edict of Nantes (1598), which guaranteed the Huguenots civil and political rights and incensed the Catholic traditionalists. However, the Edict was subsequently revoked in 1685 by King Louis XIV.

The reign of his grandson Louis XV was to mark the beginning of the end for the French monarchy. An oafish buffoon, he embroiled France in several senseless and costly wars that did little to endear him to the nation’s increasingly angry citizens. But before too long, patriotism, widespread discontent, and nationalism culminated in the French Revolution. In September 1792, France’s First Republic was declared, and Louis XV’s son, Louis 16th, was guillotined. The head of his wife, Marie-Antoinette, rolled several months later. As a major religious center, Saintes was an easy target for the radical Jacobins, who suppressed religious activity and the power of the church during the reign of terror. Saintes was made the administrative center of the Charente-Maritime region in 1791; La Rochelle supplanted it in 1810.

However, this foray into democracy was not fated to last. Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in 1799 – his rule over France endured until 1814 when he was exiled to Elba. But in 1815, Napoleon escaped from the Mediterranean island kingdom, landed in Golfe Juan in southern France, and marched north, triumphantly entering Paris on 20 May. His glorious ‘Hundred Days’ back in power ended with the battle of Waterloo and his return to exile (to the South Atlantic island of St Helena, where he died in 1821). His nephew Louis Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor of the Second Empire in 1851.

France enjoyed significant economic growth at this time – the railroad’s arrival in the 1860s expanded Saintes’ trading links with other French regions. The town prospered as an important river port and a center of masonry and forestry. The Third Republic, declared in 1870, ushered in an unprecedented age of artistic and scientific achievement across France.

Saintes survived the horrors of the Two World Wars to prosper into the thriving modern-day center of commerce and trade one finds today. Renowned for the production of Cognac and its productive agriculture, Saintes’ industries include machinery and electronic manufacturing. It is not just a pretty face but a lively, thriving working town of authentic charm and character. Enjoying its pedestrianized old town, which spills over with fantastic places to eat and drink, is a proposition few could or should resist.