Photo : Paul.schrepfer / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Towns & cities · Charente-MaritimeWorth a visit
Saint-Martin-de-Ré
Saint-Martin-de-Ré is the main fortified town of the Île de Ré, in the Charente-Maritime. Vauban gave it in the late seventeenth century ramparts, bastions and a citadel, an ensemble inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage as part of the Fortifications of Vauban. The citadel also served as a penitentiary from which convoys of convicts left for Guiana.
The port, with its quays, terraces and boats, gives the town all its charm. You can walk round the ramparts, stroll the white streets flowered with hollyhocks and taste island produce. Saint-Martin is visited in half a day, before continuing to the salt marshes and beaches of Ré.
In our collectionsThe UNESCO sites of France
