Free visit of the park and the listed buildings of the Priory Saint Pierre in Réaumur
At 2 rue du Prieuré, pass the gate and discover an exceptional place with its architectural heritage, its shaded alleys, its ornamental garden and its new orchard. The portal crossed, different buildings stand up and arouse curiosity. You can discover the facades of the priory house rebuilt at the beginning of the nineteenth century as well as the remains of the former chapel of the fourteenth century. The date 1695 chiseled above a semicircular door (probable former entrance of the refectory), questions us about the leak of time. Along the front of the house, you admire the entrance to the gardens marked by a graceful portal with blond stone pillars, surmounted by enigmatic polyhedra. After crossing the first terrace of the vegetable garden, you will walk in a real cloister of greenery fashioned by the monks in the seventeenth century and surrounded by yew centenarians. This mediation incentive space, known in the old dialect as «Affiage», is an atypical structure in the history of gardens. It was a place of grafting of the fruit trees, that is the reason why the new owners, have recreated in this ensemble a conservatory orchard of apple and pear trees with old local species (Apple trees: la Reinette Clochard, la Racine blanche, la Bonvin, la Pineau de Villeneuve. Pear trees: la Royale de Vendée, la Poire d'Aigue). In several places you will notice nest boxes, arranged in height, with the collaboration of the LPO, which offer shelter to different species of birds. Several panels are also there to remind you that in Réaumur you are on the land of the encyclopaedist René-Antoine Ferchaud de Réaumur who, we like to imagine, also walked in this area and these gardens when he came to visit the monks of the Priory, or insect hunting. Note, in the successive spaces of this garden, the strong link between the river and the landscape of the Haut Bocage with a graduation of progressive maintenance. The quality of this garden, its unique character and its authenticity, allow it to benefit from protection under the title of historical monuments. Know that this is the only park in the Vendée with the protection of the Historical Monuments. The new occupants, children of the former owners, and their own children will be happy to welcome you there on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 June 10:30 am to 6:00 pm.