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Origin and history

The column of the Duchess of Angoulême, located at Saint-Florent-le-Vieil in Maine-et-Loire, was erected in 1823 to mark the visit of Marie-Thérèse of France, daughter of Louis XVI and Duchess of Angoulême. It is 15 metres high and overlooks the Loire River from Mount Glinne, in the gardens of the local abbey. Its 2.5-metre base supports a doric column crowned with a metallic crown adorned with lily flowers and heraldic dolphins, symbols of the Dauphins of France. Four engraved dardian plates commemorate the event and the Vendée wars.

The monument was inaugurated in 1828 in the presence of the Duchess of Berry, although some original inscriptions, destroyed in 1830, evoked tributes to the royalty and the Vendéens. A partial restoration took place in 1856 thanks to a public subscription and was completed in 1899 by Ernest Gazeau, who offered the crown. The column, surrounded by a metal grid, was classified as a historical monument in 2010. It also recalls the passage of the Salesian army to Saint-Florent after the Battle of Cholet in 1793.

In parallel with the column, the sculptor David d'Angers made a neoclassical tomb in 1825 for General Bonchamps, buried in the abbey. This tomb and column highlight the symbolic role of Saint-Florent-le-Vieil in the history of the Vendée wars, while honouring the memory of the royalist fighters. The site, restored in the 1970s, remains a major place of memory for this troubled period.

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