The famous story of salt from the baie de Bourgneuf

The famous story of Bourgneuf bay salt : the white gold of the salt marshes

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The town of Villeneuve-en-Retz has a long history of salt production, dating back to the Middle Ages...
Once France's largest salt marsh, its salt was exported all over Europe from the Port du Collet.

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Bourgneuf : a long history of salt production

Welcome to the medieval capital of “White Gold”, the former salt granary of the kingdom of France and one of the most important Atlantic ports in the Middle Ages.
In the 11th century, the village of Bourgneuf-en-Retz (now Villeneuve-en-Retz) flourished thanks to the exploitation and marketing of salt in Europe, long before Guérande and Noirmoutier.

History of salt in the Pays de Retz

The bay of Bourgneuf, formerly known as the “Bay of Brittany”, is renowned for having been Europe's largest salt-producing area until the 16th century, shaping the economic development of the Pays de Retz and ensuring its prosperity and international renown.
Several hundred ships from the Iberian Peninsula, the British Isles and all over Europe docked here, turning the Port du Collet into a hub of the salt trade. They loaded this rare commodity : salt from the bay.
Salt was as important in those days as oil is today.
Until the 18th century, salt workers produced 30,000 tonnes of salt a year, until the bay silted up, bringing an end to salt exports from the Port du Collet.
Today, following the restoration and reactivation of the salt marshes by enthusiasts in the 2000s, three salt workers operate a dozen or so salt pans in Villeneuve-en-Retz and Moutiers-en-Retz.

Did you know ?
Salt was known as “White Gold”, because in the Middle Ages, it was used not only as a seasoning, but also as a means of preserving and conserving food, hence its high value.

Ancient salorges in Bourgneuf

From the 14th century onwards, buildings were erected to store the salt harvested from the many salt marshes around Bourgneuf, to allow it to dry over the winter. The salt marsh harvests were then deposited in the form of millstones known as "mulons", in what were known as "salorges" : a vast wooden shed resting on stone masonry buttresses. Mules sometimes wait in these sheds for several years.

Located at the entrance to the village of Bourgneuf, the salorges, which today house the Tourist Office and La Savonnerie de Marcel, were for many years “salt granaries”.
However, the last old salorge in Bourgneuf is the one that houses the soap factory. While salt harvested from the marshes used to be dried here, today it's soaps 🧼 that dry here, sometimes made with marine clay from the Moutiers-en-Retz salt marshes... We've come full circle.

Visit Daniel Robard’s salt marshes

In Bourgneuf-en-Retz, at Sel de Bourgneuf-en-Retz, Daniel Robard welcomes you to his salt marshes to introduce you to a time-honoured craft. Driven by his passion, he revived operations at the Bourgneuf salt marshes in the 2000s, breathing new life into a tradition that made this region – once the salt capital of the Atlantic – famous. During the guided tours available from March to the end of September, he enthusiastically shares the history of his salt marsh, the various stages of traditional salt harvesting and the techniques of the salt-maker’s trade. The tour concludes with a visit to the Salines Neuves shop, where you can find fleur de sel, coarse salt, glasswort and other specialities from the salt marsh.

A bit of history:
As early as the 11th century, Bourgneuf-en-Retz was one of Europe’s largest centres of salt production. Nicknamed the ‘salt granary of the Kingdom of France’, the region exported its precious ‘white gold’ throughout Europe from the port of Bourgneuf. After several centuries of neglect, a handful of passionate salt workers, including Daniel Robard, have helped to revive this iconic activity and preserve the unique heritage of the Pays de Retz.

The story of a salt worker on our territory : the Ileau saltworks

After delegating the "Tenue de Mareil" saltworks to Christophe Joguet, Mélanie Daspremont, a salt worker in Bourgneuf-en-Retz, now runs another saltworks that she restored in 2017 and 2018 : the Ileau saltworks.

Passionate about her craft, she harvests and sells fleur de sel, coarse salt and flavored salts certified by the "Nature et Progrès" label

guaranteeing 100% natural, local and fair-trade ingredients.

This new saltworks cannot be visited, as it is difficult to access due to its location in a protected natural area. However, you can still support Mélanie by purchasing her products : her salt is available all year round at the tourist office in Les Moutiers-en-Retz, as well as in Villeneuve-en-Retz, La Bernerie-en-Retz, Préfailles, Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef and La Plaine-sur-Mer.

Supporting her

Our local salt is of the highest quality. You can find it in the recipes of our restaurateurs, patissiers and ice cream makers. We're all melting in front of the Délices de L'air Marin salted butter ice cream, made with salt from the Salines de Millac...