See

National stud farm of Saintes

Haras National de Saintes

In a forested park of 9 hectares in size, until 2019 you could experience living 19th century heritage in the form of horse breeding. In 2019 the place was sold to an advertising entrepreneur who plans to convert the buildings into a headquarters for southwestern France, but they'll also house a restaurant, rentable space for startup businesses and apartments. As such you can just admire the buildings from a distance.

Address: 2 Avenue Jourdan
Price: free
Website: haras-nationaux.fr (opens in a new tab)

Directions Suggest a nearby place

Listing from Wikivoyage: Saintes, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.

Close by

Buy
Marché St Palais
Thursday and Sunday.
Eat
Le Gourmet d'Asie
Asian buffet with Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Thai dishes where you can eat as much you like. On Facebook.
weekdays EUR 12. Friday nights: EUR 18
Eat
La Taverne de Maître Kanter
Alsatian cuisine and brewery with several types of choucroute (Sauerkraut).
menus €21-33
See
Abbaye aux Dames
Founded by Count of Anjou Geoffroy Martel and his wife Agnes of Burgundy in 1047, it was once one of the most important female monasteries in southwestern France. It was richly endowed by the Dukes of Aquitaine and at its peak home to up to a hundred nuns from French nobility. Madame de Saintes, the abbess of this monastery, had a very powerful position. She carried a bishop's staff, for female religious leaders an almost unheard of privilege at the time, and also had the right to mint money and act as a judge. In 1320 it was placed under the protection of the French king, as the right bank became French territory, which greatly angered the Duke of Aquitaine (the English king). After the revolution, indeed already somewhat before, the monastery declined, and was converted into a jail and later a barracks. In the mid 20th century it became a religious building again, and is now also a cultural institution. The abbey also has a separate church, the Église Saint-Marie, which has an interesting bell tower which is said to look like a pine cone and a decorated portal, plus some additional buildings related to the abbey.