Champtoceaux

 Click here to discover Champtoceaux on the map (French).

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Embark for on 1 hour 15 minutes cruise in the heart of a protected environment and listen to your guide's commentary dotted with fascinating anecdotes . While sailing to the Patache Port, discover the fauna and flora of the river banks and catch sweeping views of the Folies Siffait and the château of Clermont . 

From the XIIIth et XIVth centuries, it is classified "Monument Historique". Two paddle wheels were hung under the arches and they could be settled in height according to the level of the Loire River.

Mysterious and rich in history, it was the witness of numerous struggles . During the hundred years war, Jean V, duke of Brittany is made prisoner there in 1420. By vengeance, after having been freed, he orders to level the city. It is why today, battlements and towers of this important citadel are in ruins. 
However, they offer to the walker a very beautiful historic promenade : dungeon, chapel St Pierre, cistern, arched cellar, drawbridge... with a magnificent view on the Loire and the valley. Vestiges of a leper's hospital subsist in St Lazare street, 700 meters to the East of the medieval city.

The two entrance towers of the medieval city, united by an ogival porch, form a beautiful structure again.

One of the towers, called the jail, is from the XIIIth century; the other tower is probably from the XIVth century but has been restored in the XIXth century.

At this spot the punishments were inflicted to the convicts. These were attached on market days to a thick picket by iron necklaces and remained there generally two hours for the minimal pains.

Until 1906, the garden of the Champalud was part of the Rectory. Today, the Tourist Office is installed there.

The site has been classified in 1935 for its exceptional panorama on the Loire.

The garden of the Champalud is a privileged place for walks in a verdant and restful setting.

Prolonged to the East by the gardens of the Cédraie, it offers to the walker the possibility to pursue his ramble by taking the tunnel that passes under the road D751, descending the "Coulée de la Luce" and then to follow the Loire bank to reach "La Patache".

This magnificent wooded walk takes you down to the Loire.

A little history:

The Gallic had for temple the forest. They honored springs, woods and streams. From its etymology (Lucus means sacred Wood) it is supposed that the "Coulée de la Luce" and the Champalud, then wooded, were a meeting place for religious rituals.