Welcome to the Vendée bocage, land of Moulins!
Meunier, you are sleeping... Your mill, your mill is going too fast... From our youngest age, the mill is anchored in our imagination. It is a place that is both simple and magical! The Puss in Boots miller's son began his adventure there, Anderson's Devil's Mill forged a solid and lasting identity that made us deeply love mills.
The water mills
Around the year 900, we began to use hydraulic power to turn the large blades of the mills. Built on the banks of the Sèvre Nantaise, the water mills were used for several activities and not just for grinding grain: paper, fuller (textile)... Visit idea: The Fulling mill in Cugand.
The windmills
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.
Communicate through windmills
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: danger close, danger past, gathering and rest.
This use earned them massive destruction by the republics, led by Turreau, in October 1793.
Focus on the Mont des Alouettes
From the top of its 232 meters, the Mont des Alouettes is one of the highest peaks in Vendée and enjoys an exceptional panorama.
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 !
The windmills
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 XNUMXth century, two remain today, one of which is in working order. Nature walks enliven the site in July and August.
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 a chapel there intended to “perpetuate the memory of an era that will forever be remembered”. 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.
Built in the neo-Gothic style, it is a very sober building, lit by modern stained glass windows bearing the coat of arms of the 3 insurgent provinces.
The name
Where does this name of the Alouettes come from? From the base camp of a Roman legion? The usual flight over a colony of birds? From the patois deformation of the word gorse? Several hypotheses run on its etymology, even if the legend prefers to keep thehistory of the Roman legion of the Alouettes who left his name to the site.