Jard-sur-Mer - Sainte-Radegonde

In 1198 Richard Lionheart had founded a monastery for the Premonstratensian order nearby. The same year this church was completed as well with Richard´s support.

The preceding building (~8th century) may have been erected, when nuns from the Sainte-Croix Abbey in Poitiers had fled the Saracens to Jard-sur-Mer, bringing the relics of Saint Radegonde, Queen of the Franks. After Charles Martel´s army had defeated the Arab troops between Tours and Portiers (732) the nuns probably returned.

The church of today got fortified in the 15th century and was surrounded by a moat. When Potestant tropps attacked the town in 1568 the church got severely damaged, but it got rebuilt, enlarged and modified. The nave, seen here, is Romaneque, while the later added apse is Gothic.