Built on the flanks of a mount, the collegiale and houses of Cande mirror themselves in the waters of the Vienne and the Loire.
After creating the first monastery in Gaul at Ligugé, St Martin, bishop of Tours, arrived in Candes at the end of the 4th c. He destroyed the heathen temple whose remains can still be observed in the park of the château, baptized the inhabitants and founded one of the first rural parishes. One of today’s chapels in the choir was built on the exact location where St Martin died in 397. One of the vitrals tells his body’s abduction at night by priests while the guards were asleep. 16 centuries after his death, many legends still thrive about St Martin. The most endearing of them has it that the banks of the Loire blossomed in November as his body was shipped to Tours. It was the first “ summer of St Martin ”.
Where
to stay?
What to discover?
• Collegiale St-Martin: everyday 9h-19h.
• Sentier from patrimoine de Candes à Montsoreau.
