This is the village where gabarres were built, boats that transported men and goods, especially cognac, paper, canons etc through the Charente to the sea.
Visit the village gabarrier of Saint-Simon at your own pace.
To understand the history of the village, start with a visit to La Maison des Gabarriers before heading off on the discovery itinerary. This house, built from Charentais limestone, situated in the village square is a typical construction of the 18th and 19th centuries. Here you’ll learn about the history, heritage and culture of the boatmen in the Cognac region.
The discovery itinerary starts from the village square (1) then heads for Vibrac, where you can see a door and sign of a carpenter-caulker from 1602 (2), the cemetery, especially its gateway and a few typical tombs (3); the sign of Jean Brian (a caulker at work) dates from the 12th century (4), the quays and works by the dock (5), the church of Saint-Sigismond (6). The itinerary continues towards Juac with the boatmen’s wall, the mast of a gabarre (8) and then the lock at Juac (9).
Crossing the bridge to the left bank you get a fine view of the village of Saint-Simon and the quays (10).
The itinerary is shown in yellow on the map that can be downloaded below.
The unaccompanied itinerary takes between 45 and 90 minutes, depending on the abilities and ages of participants. It is signposted.
