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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church of St.Martin of Esnandes, classified as a historical monument in 1840, has its origins in the 12th century, as evidenced by its sculpted Romanesque portal. Originally dependent on the abbey of Saint-Cyprien de Poitiers (mentioned in 990), it was given in 1029 to the monks of Saint-Jean-d-Angely. Its reconstruction in the 12th century was permitted by donations, including that of Guillaume X, Duke of Aquitaine, in 1137.

In the 14th century, in the context of the Hundred Years' War, the church was transformed into a fortress to protect the priory from English incursions. Its walls were thickened (up to 3 meters), the bays blocked, and a ditch dug. This fortification, a rare example of a fortress church, was aimed at countering enemy landings from the coast of Spain, strategic to control La Rochelle.

The Wars of Religion (16th century) marked a violent turning point: the church, a Catholic bastion, was looted in 1568 and partially destroyed in 1622 by order of Protestant La Rochelle. After the siege of 1628, its renovation began in 1629, with the repair of the vaults (1694-1720) and the reconstruction of the bell tower in 1633, using wrecked wood. The restorations of the 19th century (from 1880) gave the defensive elements their original appearance.

The building retains 18th-century classified furniture, including a 1775 pulpit, and offers from its round path a panoramic view of the Bay of Aiguillon and the Poitevin Marais. Its hybrid architecture — Romanesque facade, Gothic fortifications and defensive additions — illustrates the successive adaptations to local conflicts and needs, between spirituality and military strategy.

The Bayon corsairs, acting for the king of England, devastated the area in 1293, accelerating the reconstructions. In the 17th century, the edict of Nantes (1598) and the end of the siege of La Rochelle (1628) allowed a relative stabilization, although religious tensions left lasting traces in the history of the monument.

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