Le cimetière en fer à cheval et son calvaire

A place steeped in history: a monumental calvary, a chapel and a circular cemetery unique in Europe.

The Vendée Wars

In 1793, aged 24, the parish priest Jean Voillet helped General Charette fight against the Republicans. The war left him with a scar on his face. After being placed in the curacy of Saint-Hilaire in 1802, Father Voillet resumed his duties in 1805.

It was then that he decided to erect a calvary similar to the one at Pontchâteau, as a tribute to those killed in the Vendée Wars. Work began in 1826 on a mound of earth.


Calvary, Way of the Cross and horseshoe-shaped cemetery

Originally, the mound was topped by a single wooden cross. In 1835, a chapel was built on the same mound, which took 10 years to complete.
Under the porch, two marble tables facing each other have been installed thanks to the generosity of the Jugné and Durfort families (Château du Bois-Ruaud). The memorial plaques of the Vendée Memorial bear 206 names (out of a population of 1,150 at the time).

In 1854, Easter Day marked the installation of two side crosses, still made of wood until 1931, when they were erected in concrete. This was thanks to a donation from Mrs Marie Paty, a former butcher who had won the lottery. Here is the finished representation of Christ and the two thieves.

The parish priests rest all around the Calvary on the Way of the Cross dating from 1858. In 1954, new paintings of the Way of the Cross were entrusted to Machecoulais artist Armand Pavageau, whose very modern style at the time was much talked about in the commune.

In 1944, the mural of the Pieta was inaugurated. This mural, in a sorry state due to damp, was restored by Roselyne Avril and Ginette Tayllamin in 2010.

After climbing the imposing steps, visitors can walk around the calvary and admire the huge horseshoe-shaped cemetery below, inaugurated in 1869 and surrounded by a circular wall. The only one of its kind in Europe!


Many thanks to Jean-François de Taevernier for his editorial insights.