Fontaine du Moulin, Poitou Charentes Travel Guide

The Fontaine du Moulin, located in the village of Vénérand, offers a fascinating look into the area's history, stretching back to Roman times. The site is centered around a natural spring emerging from a cliff face, flowing into a grotto and a stone basin. Legend says that Saint Louis bathed here before the battle of Taillebourg in 1242.The spring's watercourse includes a washhouse built in 1854 and a 17th-century water mill. The mill's construction repurposed a section of a Roman aqueduct that once supplied water to Saintes (Mediolanum Santonum). The aqueduct, nearly 17 km long, delivered up to 12,000 cubic meters of water daily. Today, the water is diverted to a more recent fountain, the Fontaine des Fontenelles, constructed in the 20th century.Visitors can explore the remains of the Roman aqueduct and the repurposed mill. The site illustrates how the inhabitants of Vénérand have utilized the natural spring for centuries, from the Romans to more recent times. The Fontaine du Moulin provides a tranquil setting to reflect on the ingenuity of ancient engineers and the enduring importance of water resources.