Aix Island

Aix Island is located to the North of Oleron Island. It is nearly three kilometers (1.8 miles) long and less than one kilometer (0.6 mile) wide. Aix Island has two hundred inhabitants, called "aixois".

Since the island of Oléron, Aix Island is accessible by a boat trip. It can be visited during a stopover of several hours.

A bit of history

At the eleventh century, the religious community of monks of Cluny settled on the island. They built up the church and the priory of Saint-Martin. The Benedictine monks have left the island in the fourteenth century.

From the seventeenth century, the island has been part of the defense of Rochefort's arsenal.

The Fort de la Rade was built in 1703. It was razed by the English army in 1757 and rebuilt in 1778.

Fort Boyard belongs to Aix Island's district. It was built in the nineteenth century on a sandbar in the southwest of Aix.

Discovery of Aix Island

The village

The fortified village, surrounded by ramparts, is protected by the Fort de la Rade. There are the church and the remains of a Benedictine priory.

Two museums, whose collections were assembled by Baron Gourgaud (1891-1944), can be visited:

the Napoleonic Museum, settled in the house where Napoleon stayed before being exiled to St. Helena;
the African Museum, with ethnographic and zoological collections.

Near the village, the beach surrounding Cross cove is dominated by the two towers of the lighthouse. This lighthouse can not be visited.

The island tour

The tour of the island can be done walking, cycling or in a horse-drawn carriage. Indeed, motorized vehicles are not allowed in the island, except for emergency services.

The forest in the north of the island can be discovered during this tour. The second defensive work of the island, Fort Liédot, is located in this forest. It was built from 1810 to 1834 on the orders of Napoleon. Gun batteries were also protecting the coastline.

The beaches of the island, "plage des Coquillages" along a cove, "Grande plage" on the west coast, and the one near the point of Coudepont, are good places to take a rest and enjoy the sun.

The site of the tourist office communicates more information on the island of Aix.

Access from the island of Oleron

In the tourist season, three shipping companies operate between the islands of Oleron and Aix:

"Saint-Denis Croisières" since Saint-Denis;
"Croisières Inter Îles" since Saint-Denis and Boyardville;
"Vedettes Oléronaises" since Boyardville.

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