Situated in the north of the Deux-Sèvres department, the Thouarsais is ideally located between the Loire Valley and the Atlantic coast. The 24 communes offer a varied landscape of agricultural plains, hedged farmland and vineyards. The GR36 and the Vélo Francette, two major national walking and cycling routes, cross the area and allow visitors to discover our natural, historical, cultural and leisure heritage.
Pas de Jeu
Its name dates back to the Roman occupation of the region, when it was dangerous to cross the marshes of the Dive. A pagan altar, Passus Jovis, the Passage of Jupiter, was erected there. The place kept its name, ecclesia de Joco (1300), Pas de Jeu (1596) Passus Jovis or ‘Jupiter's Passage’. Since then, the Dive, a tributary of the Thouet, has been channelled The Dive is channelled downstream from Pas-de-Jeu. A path, formerly a towpath, follows its banks, making it easy to walk along the river. This church was built in 1874, opposite the old one, which was deemed too small and had been out of use since 1870. As the church was built over a cemetery, its ossuary was placed in the square of the transept in 1877.
Consecrated on Sunday 28 April 1878, the church's patron saint is Saint-Hilaire. The boat in the port of Saint-Laon in Pas-de-Jeu is emblematic. Found in the brambles near the port in the early 1990s by a resident of Saint-Laon, it weighs one tonne and measures 9.5 m in length, 1.90 m in width and 0.90 m at its highest point. It is mainly made of metal. There are also a few wooden parts. The boat was used for mowing the canal and its banks. It is the only known example in western France. It was returned to the old port in 1994.
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