Tourist attractions Brouage

The Brouage Ramparts, built between 1630 and 1640, are an excellent example of the art of fortifications before Vauban. Forming a square with sides 400m long, they are protected by seven bastions equipped with bartizans. The North side faced the sea,..

Built by Colbert in 1666, the building is anchored on a timber form comprised of a grid of oak beams. A rare example of 17C industrial architecture, this classical building was the assembly point for rope used on the great warships. The advent of ste..

The shipyard stretched along the Charente River on two levels (they still exist today) separated by slipways or dry docks. It had 11 construction yards and careening basins of which the Old Form is the oldest masonry dry dock in the world. A foundry,..

Pierre Loti’s house is made up of two adjoining buildings. The interior is magnificent, and quite amazing, with a ‘‘Renaissance’’ dining room furnished in the Spanish style and decorated with Flemish tapestries, a mosque ornamented with items from th..

This museum houses a collection of paintings from the 16C and 17C, and the Romantic and Empire periods, including the Lola Montès portrait by Rouget. There is also a beautiful ethnography collection from Africa and Oceania (with superb Polynesian mas..

This museum is a picturesque reminder of the way people once lived, featuring a range of businesses and workshops that were set up in Rochefort between 1900 and 1940 (a Rochefort bar, a hat shop, a pharmacy, a grocery and a forge).

A fully furnished, reconstructed farm recreating the atmosphere of traditional life on the island. On display are the farmhouse with its one room and window, outbuildings (wine storeroom and forge) containing equipment and tools from earlier days, pa..

With its green woodland of oaks, pines and tamarisks, inlets and beaches of fine sand on which sit Vauban’s fortifications, this little island (seemingly Mediterranean in character) in the mouth of the Charente is ideal for long walks bathed in ocean..

The castle is what remains of a citadel built by Richelieu. It was enlarged and modified by Louis XIV in 1666 to protect the newly built port of Rochefort . During the Revolution, political deportees were its unwilling occupants.

Like the four other transporter bridges in France (in Brest, Marseille, Rouen and Nantes), this one was built (in 1900) by engineer Ferdinand Arnodin. 176m long and 50m above the Charente River, it was reopened in 1994 and is used as a pedestrian and..

Intendant of the Navy Michel Bégon had Rochefort rebuilt from wood into stone. But his fame is due more to the botanist Charles Plumier , who discovered a plant in the Caribbean in the 17C and named it after Bégon rather than himself. The large gr..

The riverside ponds at this wastewater plant are welcome rest areas for all kinds of waterbirds (herons, little shore waders, shelducks, etc.). After learning about Rochefort’s ecological wastewater treatment, you can admire the surrounding wildlife ..

This Neo-classical style church was built in 1662 on the site of an old Capuchin Chapel.

The town hall, located in the Hôtel Amblimont, dominates this square flanked by houses with Neo-classical façades and adorned with rock-work balconies. In the middle, a monumental fountain shows the Ocean and Charente River mixing their waters. Cinem..

Here you will find models of ships, of prow figures and Caryatids, navigation instruments, paintings evoking the maritime history of French wars from the 17C to the 20C. Maps and documents are devoted to the old arsenal.

Built in the 17C, with a majestic doorway, the former Navy Commission building now houses the Naval Museum.

Sculpted in 1830 in the form of a triumphal arch, this gate decorated on the town side with sculpted marine trophies marks the entry to the Arsenal

Since 1997 craftsmen have been reconstructing a replica of Hermione, Lafayette’s famous ‘‘12-pounder frigate’’. One of the shipyard’s dry docks was restored to work on the 45m three-masted vessel. At the reconstruction site you will learn all about t..

These areas dug out of the Charente River were used for repairing boats.

The decision to make use of the hot springs came after a visit by Napoleon in 1808. Gushing out at 42° C from the depths of the marsh to the Emperor’s spring , the water is excellent for cases of rheumatism, arthritis and skin disorders.