A Saintonge landscape
If you are not French, it’s likely you haven’t ever heard the word “Saintonge”, and have no clue what it means. If you are French, it’s probably the same thing. Unless, that is, you are a fan of Romanesque, in which case you know that Saintonge, that small region of France centered around the town of Saintes (hence the name), not far from the Atlantic Ocean, just North of Bordeaux... features the highest density of Romanesque churches of all the country!
I had never visited that area of France, and so in the middle of October 2021, I took that long overdue trip and stayed two weeks in Saintes, driving left and right daily to photograph all the most significant Romanesque churches... and unfortunately leaving out many others, as they are so thick on the ground!
Saintonge always was a small but rich province: the soil is very fertile, fairly flat and hence easy to cultivate, and its acidity is excellent for the growing of grapes: it is the land of Cognac brandy. The profits from that trade, and that of white wine, in particular with Great Britain and The Netherlands via the port of La Rochelle, paid throughout history for many of those churches, inter alia!
This is what I meant to illustrate with this photo: rich soil and abundant crops to feed people, and in the next field, Cognac brandy to make money with foreign trade.
A Saintonge landscape
If you are not French, it’s likely you haven’t ever heard the word “Saintonge”, and have no clue what it means. If you are French, it’s probably the same thing. Unless, that is, you are a fan of Romanesque, in which case you know that Saintonge, that small region of France centered around the town of Saintes (hence the name), not far from the Atlantic Ocean, just North of Bordeaux... features the highest density of Romanesque churches of all the country!
I had never visited that area of France, and so in the middle of October 2021, I took that long overdue trip and stayed two weeks in Saintes, driving left and right daily to photograph all the most significant Romanesque churches... and unfortunately leaving out many others, as they are so thick on the ground!
Saintonge always was a small but rich province: the soil is very fertile, fairly flat and hence easy to cultivate, and its acidity is excellent for the growing of grapes: it is the land of Cognac brandy. The profits from that trade, and that of white wine, in particular with Great Britain and The Netherlands via the port of La Rochelle, paid throughout history for many of those churches, inter alia!
This is what I meant to illustrate with this photo: rich soil and abundant crops to feed people, and in the next field, Cognac brandy to make money with foreign trade.