JOURNEES EUROPEENNES DU PATRIMOINE A SAINT HILAIRE DE RIEZ

Here is the programme for these two days in Saint Hilaire de Riez:

- Bourrine du Bois Juquaud: 47 Chemin du bois juquaud
A veritable jewel of local history, sheltered in its green setting, La Bourrine welcomes you to the heart of a protected natural site on the ancient dune belt of Les Mathes. This typical house and its outbuildings invite you to travel back in time to a time when the inhabitants lived in harmony with nature. Come and discover a simple, authentic way of life that followed the rhythm of the seasons. Also worth a look: the temporary exhibition "Auprès de mon arbre: du quotidien à l'invisible".

Saturday 21 September from 2.30pm to 6.30pm.
Guided tours at 3 pm and 5 pm. Butter churning demonstration at 4.15pm.

Sunday 22 September from 2.30pm to 6.30pm.
Event organised in partnership with Les Amis de la bourrine du bois Juquaud. Traditional music and dance with the Bouquet d'Ajoncs, entertainment, demonstrations of traditional skills and techniques, bar and market garden delicacies.

- La Livarde: 3 Rue de l'Océan, Sion.
Visit the museum, featuring objects from the local maritime heritage, old photos, a marine engine and mechanics workshop, and a maritime carpentry workshop.

Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September, 10 am to 12 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm.
Visits to the maritime heritage museum: artefacts, marine engines, marine carpentry, exhibition of old photos.

- Marais Salants de la Vie, Saline du Recoin, 81 Route du Sel
Guided by the salt workers, you will understand how the salt marsh becomes the salt marsh; an alchemy between the earth, the water, the moon, the sun, the wind and man. The uniqueness of this activity is that it has preserved its traditions, tools and working methods
and working methods, despite changes in trade and farming conditions.

Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September, afternoon.
Guided tours.

- Les Mathes battlefield, Quartier de la Fradinière, chemin des Tisonnières
On this promontory of the former Ile de Rié, the dunes and marshes invite visitors to remember the Wars of Religion and the Wars of the Vendée.

Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September.
Guided tours by volunteers from the association Histoire, Culture et Patrimoine du Pays de Rié, at 10.30am and 3.30pm.


- Saint-Hilaire Church and Notre-Dame-de-Pitié Chapel / Place de l'Église and cemetery, rue de l'Égalité
Dedicated to Saint Hilaire, bishop of Poitiers who evangelised the region in the 6th century, the original church was built in 1025. A fine example of neo-Gothic architecture, with its pointed arches and ribbed vaults, it is now the pride of the Hilairois thanks to its remarkable 17th-century altarpieces, listed as historic monuments, the paintings by painter Henry Simon and its organ.

Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September, afternoon.
Guided tour with a volunteer from the parish.
- Église Saint-Hilaire: meet on the square in front of the Place de l'Église at 3pm.

- Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Pitié: meet in front of the chapel, town centre cemetery, rue de l'Égalité, at 4.30pm.

- Exhibition on the American air force camp, Mairie Annexe des Demoiselles, 2 Avenue des Azalées
Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September from 10am to 6pm

- Notre-Dame-du-Marais, 85 rue Georges-Clemenceau

Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September, 2pm to 6pm.
Special opening of the studio of painter Henry Simon.