Jmdigne, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Fontenay-le-Comte
Before the département was created, Fontenay-le-Comte was the capital of the Bas-Poitou, a status that brought it exceptional intellectual influence in the Renaissance, when a circle of scholars and printers gathered around the humanist Rabelais.
The Vendée river, crossing the town under old bridges, borders a historic centre rich in Renaissance mansions and the Fontaine des Quatre-Tias, a carved 16th-century masterpiece. The Church of Notre-Dame, with its slender Gothic spire visible from far across the countryside, still dominates the town's skyline. A sub-prefecture of the Vendée, Fontenay-le-Comte has preserved this remarkable heritage while remaining a quiet small town between the Marais Poitevin and the farming plain.
