The French Green Venice

They surrounded the fields with dikes and dug a complete hydraulic system that drained its water into canals and then into the Aiguillon Bay: that was the beginning of the Dry Marsh.
The priests joined together for this project and dug Le Canal des Cinq Abbésthe (Canal of Five Priests).
This network also made it possible to bring fresh water from rivers to irrigate the fields.

The dry marsh area is located below sea level. To protect themselves from floods caused by water coming from the watershed, the inhabitants created clay dikes called levées (levies).

In the winter, these dikes held back the rainwater, flooding the dark green area of the map: this is the wet marsh, which acts like a sponge to protect crops in the dry marsh.

Under Henry IV's reign, the system was improved through ties established with Dutch engineers, who were experts in controlling water. The name of the canal separating the dry marsh from the wet marsh gets its name from this episode: the Dutch Belt Canal.

In turn, the wet marsh was developed in the 19th century, under Napoleon I's influence. The Emperor wanted the Sèvre Niortaise to be navigable.

People dug several thousand kilometers of canals, called gullies, inlets, or ditches, by hand. This work was motivated by the promise of owning exploitable land cleared in this way.
The whole area is now designated a Grand Site of France.

The edges of the canals are planted with ash trees to limit natural erosion. These trees are pollarded, meaning their branches are cut frequently to strengthen the roots.

Owners of the plots also used wood from these trees as fuel for heating.

Pollarded ash trees are the symbol of the Poitevin marsh. Threatened with extinction, a large-scale replanting policy has been implemented recently in the Regional Nature Park, with the support of the Fondation du Patrimoine (French Heritage Foundation).

Vegetable gardens are located on exposed plots facing the village.
Beans or mogettes in particular are grown there during the summer when the land is not flooded.
This production, also encouraged by Napoleon I, allowed ships going from La Rochelle to the Antilles to restock. It brought prosperity to the wet marsh's inhabitants.

Until the middle of the 20th century, when a woman became pregnant, her husband planted a plot of poplars.
When the child reached marriageable age, the wood was sold to buy a boat if it was a boy, or to provide a dowry if it was a girl.

After the World War II, new models were made from cement. Heavier but more stable, they are especially useful for transporting livestock.
Sheet metal boats emerged with the arrival of tourism. Although they are easier to maneuver, they are also less stable.

Like many boats, today the marsh boats are made of plastic and fiberglass.

On the other hand, the means of propulsion has remained the same: the pigouille.
This long wooden stick ends in a metal tip with two spikes, preventing the boat from getting stuck in the marsh's mud.
Here is Rémi, a passionate inhabitant of the wet marsh, on his boat in Arçais.

Périssoires (a type of canoe) are the smallest, at 8 feet long. They are used for hunting or fishing. They can only accommodate one individual, who lies down with the rifle alongside their arm.

The French name of these boats comes from how dangerous they are. Very unstable, they could easily capsize and drown the hunter, who generally did not know how to swim.

The biggest boats, reaching up to 22 feet, allowed them to transport cattle, positioned head to tail at the boat's widest point.

Another boat, called a chain boat, also enables them to travel the canals. Connected to each bank by a metal chain, they simply pull on it to cross the canal.
The boat here is made of concrete.

It only operated from April to October: the clay in the soils, called bri, cannot be extracted when the marsh is flooded.

Located on the bank of a ditch, the brickworks was mainly served by water. The bri was unloaded and stored in this warehouse.

After being kneaded and molded by a steam engine system, the clay was left to dry.
The bricks and tiles were arranged on wooden shelves in this large 4,305 square feet (400 m²) ventilated dryer.

After drying for several weeks, the tiles and bricks were fired in the huge Hoffman kiln, with a chimney that stands over 79 feet (24 m) tall. Installed in 1900, it is covered by a 15,070 square feet (1,400 m²) roof. Its distinctive characteristic is producing continuous fire that spreads through the kiln.

The kiln's interior, 115 feet (35 m) long and 26 feet (8 m) wide, has 7 doors on each side. It could hold between 15,000 and 48,000 pieces per firing. One firing cycle lasted for 21 days, not including loading and unloading.

This level of production enabled them to produce bricks, tiles, and ridge decorations for the entire Poitevin Marsh area, as well as neighboring departments.

The site closed in 1968 following a very large fire.
With the support of the Fondation du Patrimoine (French Heritage Foundation), it was partially restored through a job integration program.
The old Hoffmann kiln is open to the public with a multimedia space to present the place's history. The old warehouses are occupied by associations.
A center dedicated to the marsh's soft mobility will also be built there.