The best cycling routes around Clam

The name of Saint-CHRISTOPHE, to whom this imposing church is dedicated, means "Christ-bearer". According to the legend of the saint, he was a gigantic man and carried people across a river. One day a small child called to him and he carried it on his shoulders to the other bank. Amazingly, the child became heavier and he said he felt as if the weight of the whole world was on his shoulders. Then the child revealed himself to him as Jesus Christ, Savior and Redeemer of the world.

This Templar chapel was built in the 12th century and renovated in 1706. It was acquired in 1949 by Mr. and Mrs. Frédéric, the current owners, who completely restored it. Since 1986, on August 15 of each year, a mass has been celebrated there.

There is a great children's park

Charming little piece of nature. The chapel (above) can be visited when it is open. A skeleton welcomes you but don't worry, it is very discreet!

A pleasant visit with a passionate guide.

Large homogeneous massive church from the 12th century built on a classical Latin cross plan. (single nave, transept with apsidioles, apse), having undergone alterations around the 13th century (west facade, vaulting of the nave). The Wars of Religion caused serious damage to it in 1574. Restorations in the 18th and 19th centuries changed its appearance: leveling then heightening of the choir, replacement of the bell tower (which must have been on the crossing) by a campanile, addition of buttresses. The repairs are carried out in cut stone over the Romanesque walls that have been spared. In the 19th century, the vaulting and pillars of the nave, the crossing and the choir were strongly reworked. The penultimate restoration campaign in 1996-1997 allowed the total repair of the roofing, of the comforting masonry work. The last in 2014 allowed the repair of the bell and the operating mechanism of the movement, the resumption of the masonry of the campanile, the drainage and the reorganization of the rain flows and the installation of a lightning rod. The building has a Latin cross plan. The west facade, divided into three registers by horizontal cords, opens with a large portal with columns and three semi-circular scrolls. A small bell tower with one bay, from the Classical period, is built between the nave and the crossing. The apse has a hexagonal apse. The interior of the nave has isolated neo-Romanesque columns which carry a vaulting of brick ribs. The choir and the crossing are also covered with 19th century vaults. Only the arms of the transept retain their stone cradle and the apsidioles their bottom of the oven. This church is one of the few in Saintonge to have kept its transept with apsidioles intact. The church is listed as a historic monument in its entirety (ie AI 9) by order of July 23, 2003. To note Balustrade of the 18th century wooden choir. 18th century sculpted, painted and gilded wooden altarpiece, with statues of angels and Renaissance rings (Saint-Jean and Saint-Christophe). 18th century wooden statue of Sainte-Emérance Contemporary stained glass windows by Jean Moret. Bronze bell, 1525. A Romanesque inscription from 1205, on the southeast plane of the apse. "The year 1270 died, Louis King of France, handing over his soul to the august King of Kings". To the east of the apse, an engraving of a horseman similar in style to the church of Moings.

The city gate, called 'Porte de ville vieille', which gives access to the old town was built between the 13th and 15th centuries and allows you to reach the very typical houses of the town center of Jonzac. It was classified as a historical monument in 1926.

In 1073, the castle already exists; the first known lord was Guillaume de la Rochandry at the beginning of the 12th century. The 1449 inscription on the castle attests to its reconstruction following the destruction caused by the Hundred Years War. In 1505, Jean de Sainte-Maure, lord of Jonzac, founded the Carmelite monastery on the remains of an old chapel dedicated to Saint Nicolas. The cloister was built in 1657. The young Louis XIV, the Queen Mother and Mazarin stayed at the castle in 1659. The castle remained at Sainte-Maure until the end of the 17th century, then passed through marriage to Espardes de Lussan, which transformed the fortress in beautiful stately home with neat ornamentation and guard until the Revolution. Currently the north wing of the castle houses the buildings of the Town Hall (restored in the 19th century), and the south wing, those of the sub-prefecture. The cloister was restored between 1976 and 1978, and now houses a cultural center, with exhibition halls and an archaeological museum. The towers, postern and fountain in the basement date from the 12th century. Of the old feudal castle, only the postern and an isolated tower remain, connected to the main body by a large hall. The moat in front of the drawbridge was filled was filled in the 19th century. It was reopened at the beginning of the 21st century. The imposing gatehouse is marked 1549 and therefore dates from the 16th century, a period of work including the north-west tower, while the south-west tower, of a smaller diameter, is from the 17th century. The towers flanking the postern have retained their defenses. At each, the loopholes have been retained or enlarged. Stone stairs serve each floor and access the walkway. This passage seems to have been discovered, as evidenced by the gargoyles. The crenellation includes machicolations with archers in the middle of the merlons. The slate roofs are high pepperboxes on the towers, and a curious set with two sides connecting two pepperboxes for the gatehouse The fountain located in the basement of the sub-prefecture, has a niche and a niche frame decorated with sculptures imitating stalactites. Carved mask. The fountain was probably built by Léon de Sainte-Maure, Count of Jonzac, who enlarged and embellished the castle in the middle of the 12th century. In a former courtyard of the castle, a theater was built in the 19th century. It is a round building with approximately 300 seats.