From the top of its 232 meters, the Mont des Alouettes is one of the highest summits of Vendée and benefits from a panorama something exceptional for you. It is located just a few minutes from the Puy du Fou !
Come and discover Le Mont des Alouettes in Vendée Bocage during your tourist stay! Ideally located between Les Herbiers and Cholet, take the opportunity to go on beautiful hikes in the surrounding nature.
Mont des Alouettes in Vendée: what is it?
An obligatory passage area, the Mont des Alouettes is a stage on the Departmental 160, formerly National 160 linking Angers to Sables d'Olonne. This road was also Route Royale No. 160, from Saumur to Les Sables, crossing the entire bocage dividing the department into two roughly equal parts... The Mont has always been a privileged observatory, from Roman legionnaires to tourists from 'today !
Mills and their language
This site has benefited from a milling tradition for several centuries; the first written mention of a mill dates from 1564.
Of the eight windmills established in the XVIth century, two remain today, one of which is in working order.
During Vendée War, the peasants used mills to communicate with each other. The millers sent messages from hill to hill by directing the wings of the mills, according to a code with four types of messages: near danger, past danger, gathering (wings in cross) and rest (cross of St Andrew). This use earned them massive destruction by the Republicans led by Turreau in October 1793.
Calm and platonic, the windmill is the symbol of this small heritage that has survived the centuries. Born in Egypt, 3600 years BC, the windmill arrived in Europe during the reign of Charlemagne. To visit the Moulins du Terrier Marteau in Pouzauges.
Communicating through windmills…
If windmills were mainly used to grind grain, during the War of Vendée the wings also had another use…
Misuse
In 1793, the peasants dispersed in the bocage needed to communicate with each other. They had the idea of using the mills built on the heights as a means of communication! The millers sent messages, from hill to hill, by directing the blades of the mills according to a code with 4 types of messages: near danger, past danger, gathering and rest.
This use earned them massive destruction by the Republicans, led by Turreau, in October 1793.
The chapel
On September 18, 1823, the Duchess of Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI, came on pilgrimage to the Mont des Alouettes and expressed the wish to erect in this place a chapel intended to “perpetuate the memory of an era that will be forever memorable”. Following the Revolution of 1830, the construction was abandoned and narrowly escaped demolition. Long left unfinished, this commemorative chapel of the Vendée War was finally inaugurated on April 28, 1968.
Hiking trails near Mont des Alouettes aux Herbiers
A lively site – nearby nature walks:
