L'église Sainte-Victoire de la Sicaudais

The present church was built in the 19th century. Its remarkable bell tower is known as a "spire-porch bell tower".

History of the parish of La Sicaudais

For a long time, La Sicaudais was a large village in Arthon, on which it still depends administratively.
Today, it is part of Chaumes-en-Retz, which was formed in 2016 from the merger of the historic communes of Chéméré and Arthon-en-Retz.

Although human settlement has been documented since prehistoric times, it was during the Middle Ages that the trêve developed, before becoming a parish.

In the mid-19th century, Victoire du Tressay de la Sicaudais (1755 - 1854) drew up a plan of the future town as it stands today, and financed the construction of a church and presbytery (which became the town hall in 1989).
In 1843, after a great deal of lobbying, she obtained, not without difficulty, the erection of La Sicaudais as a parish.


Wars have left their sad mark here

In the choir of the church are buried 20 victims of the revolutionary "Colonnes infernales", who set fire to and devastated the village, destroying crops and massacring the inhabitants (men, women and children) during the Vendée Wars.

One hundred years later, during the fighting in the Poche de Saint-Nazaire, the 38-metre-high bell tower served as an observation point for the Germans.
On the afternoon of 31 December 1944, it was destroyed by Franco-American artillery. It received 3 shells.

The repaired bell tower was not the end of its woes: it was twice set on fire by lightning:


14 June 1952,
on 25 March 1984.


In 1946, a granite monument was unveiled at a very solemn ceremony attended by all the parishes in the Pays de Retz area. It features bronze plaques commemorating the fighting in the Poche de Saint-Nazaire and the memory of those who died there.

The staircase leading up to the bell tower (at least on the first level) dates from before the last war. It is particularly worm-eaten, so take great care when using it.

To consult the mass times for the parish of Saint-Vital en Retz, click here.
The parish of Saint-Vital en Retz comprises 5 churches: Frossay, La Sicaudais, Saint-Père-en-Retz, Saint-Viaud and Chauvé.
Its name comes from the hermit monk Saint Vital, who was born in England or Ireland towards the end of the 7th century. Saint Vital retired to Mont Scobrit (on the site of the present-day town of Saint Viaud) in the Pays de Retz, which was then part of the bishopric of Poitiers. Saint Vital died in 750.

A little extra: The church of Sainte-Victoire can be discovered by following the Sicaudais trail.