L'église Sainte-Victoire de la Sicaudais

History of the parish of La Sicaudais La Sicaudais was for a long time a large village of Arthon, on which it still depends administratively. Today, it is part of Chaumes-en-Retz, created in 2016 from the merger of the historic communes of Chéméré and Arthon-en-Retz. Although human presence has been attested since prehistoric times, it was in 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 village as it stands today, and financed the construction of a church and presbytery (which became the town hall in 1989). In 1843, after much 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 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 December 31, 1944, it was destroyed by Franco-American artillery. It received 3 shells. The repaired steeple was not the end of its woes: it was twice set on fire by lightning: june 14, 1952, on March 25, 1984. In 1946, a granite monument was unveiled at a solemn ceremony attended by all Pays de Retz parishes. It features bronze plaques recalling the fighting in the Poche de Saint-Nazaire and the memory of those who perished there. The staircase to the bell tower (at least the first level) dates from before the last war. It's particularly worm-eaten, so take care when using it. To consult the mass schedule for Saint-Vital en Retz parish, 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, 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 village of Saint Viaud) in the Pays de Retz, 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 Circuit de la Sicaudais hiking trail.