GARDENS
OF NOUAILLE-MAUPERTUIS
86340 Nouaille Maupertuis
On the outskirts of Poitiers,
Nouaille-Maupertuis abbey is nestled in a green bower. Set on the banks
of the Miosson river, these remarkable monastic buildings surrounded
by a fortified enclosure, is an invitation to become acquainted with
more than one thousand years of art and history. But Nouaille is also
a reminder of the violence of the 100 Years War: in September 1356 in
the wood next to the abbey, the Black Prince, son of the King Edward
of England, took King Jean II (le Bon), of France, prisoner after a
day-long battle. At the foot of the abbey's ramparts, a garden of medicinal
plants attracts the visitors who throng especially during the medieval
festival that takes place in May.