The famous story of salt from the Baie de Bourgneuf

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The town of Villeneuve-en-Retz has a long history of salt production, dating back to the Middle Ages... Once the largest salt marsh in France, 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 ports on the Atlantic in the Middle Ages.
It was in the 11th century that the village of Bourgneuf-en-Retz (now Villeneuve-en-Retz) flourished thanks to the exploitation and marketing of salt in Europe, well before Guérande and Noirmoutier.

The "Bay of Brittany", now the Bay of Bourgneuf, became the largest salt-producing area in Europe until the 16th century, ensuring its prosperity and international renown. We could see more than 200 ships

from the Iberian Peninsula, the British Isles and Northern Europe docking in the ports of Ile de Bouin, Bourgneuf and Le Collet to load this rare commodity. 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 and salt exports from the Port du Collet came to an end.
Today, following the restoration and reactivation of the salt marshes by enthusiasts in the 2000s, three salt workers operate around ten 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.

A work of art from the air : the Millac saltworks

Located in the Marais Breton Vendéen at Villeneuve-en-Retz, the Salines de Millac site is full of treasures. Emmanuel and Nathalie have brought back to life a historic salt marsh that has now become a must-see in the Pays de Retz.

Mano will be on hand to share his passion with you on guided tours. From 15 June to 15 September, you can find out about the salt worker's job, how a salt marsh works and what flower of salt is.

Les Salines de Millac is also La Salorge de Millac, an authentic shop selling salt marsh products. We love the salts flavoured with spices, basil, seaweed, etc. But our heart goes out to the special court-bouillon culinary infusions, which give a unique flavour to our fish and shellfish

Our favourites :

The unique panorama of the marsh and its birds
Get up high and discover a work of art created by Mano: his logo among the carnations in the salt marsh
Boxes of 3 tins of salt sold in our Tourist Offices, bearing the effigy of our 7 coastal communes and including fleur de sel, fine salt flavoured with basil and fine salt flavoured with 5 berries

Discover

Ancient salt pans in Bourgneuf

From the 14th century onwards, buildings were constructed to store the salt harvested from the many salt marshes around Bourgneuf, so that it could be left to dry over the winter. The harvests from the salt marshes were deposited in the form of millstones known as "mulons", in what were known as "salorges": a vast wooden shed supported by stone masonry buttresses. The mulons sometimes wait in these salorges for several years.

Located at the entrance to the market town 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 from marine clay from the Moutiers-en-Retz salt marshes... The story has come full circle.

Visit the "Tenue de Mareil" saltworks

Christophe Joguet, salt worker at the "Tenue de Mareil" saltworks, introduces you to salt from the Marais de Lyarne in Les Moutiers-en-Retz. He took over from Mélanie Daspremont, who now runs the Ileau saltworks in Villeneuve-en-Retz, at the end of 2023.

For the more inquisitive among you, Christophe offers guided tours in July and August, enabling you to observe the ancestral gestures of the salt worker and taste an exceptional salt, a testament to know-how dating back to Gallic times...

A little history :
During the Iron Age, salt was extracted by evaporating salt water in baked clay vessels placed on furnaces. A "firing" could last at least 24 hours, at the end of which the salt blocks were extracted by fracturing the vessels. You can discover these Gallic salt furnaces

on Christophe's tour !

Are you interested ?

The story of a salt worker in our region : 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 support Mélanie by buying 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...