The "Marais Poitevin", (the Marsh of Poitou)
or rather the Marais Poitevins (plural)

The Marais Poitevin is one of the rare wet zones of France and after the Camargue, it is the second largest.

It is made up of 75 municipalities, two regions, Poitou-Charentes and Pays de Loire, three departments, Deux-Sèvres, Charente-Maritime and Vendee.

"Marais Poitevins" spreads out from Niort in Deux-Sèvres, to the Bay of l'Aiguillon in Vendee, with a small curve into Charente-Maritime.

The Marais Poitevin covers overall approximately 100 000 hectares and the length from east to west, from Niort to the ocean, is 70 km.

The Sèvre Niortaise is the main river which feeds the marsh.

The " wet marshes " cover 30 000 hectares of easily flooded zones. They owe their name to the fact that they constitute the zones which are covered by the spreading floods of the rivers. The part situated between Niort and Maillé is nicknamed " Venice Verte " "Green Venice". Nature is the mistress here and it is still very protected.

The "Marais Desséchés" (Dried out Marshes) are in fact a set of polders for culture and breeding.

The "Marais Maritime" (maritime marsh) is formed by the bay of the l'Aiguillon, which is the remaining part of the big maritime bay.

Originally, the gulf of Pictons extended to Niort, with limestone islands. The sea withdrew and the bay was filled with alluviums.

The marsh is artificial and we know today that it is the result of 10 centuries of organisation and work.

There were monks, who in the 11^th Century began work to drain the land to allow the rainwater to evacuate, and who dug all the canals to lower the level of the water, limit the floods and to reclaim the land in order to cultivate it.

The work of the monks was interrupted by the war of 100 years and the religious wars. During the reign of Henry IV, the work started again and with the help of the Dutch, continued until the end of the 18^th Century.

Tradition says that the name of Marais Poitevin came about because the monks came from Poitiers.