Écomusée du Marais Salant, Salt marsh museum in Loix, France
The Écomusée du Marais Salant is a museum set directly within active salt marshes on Oléron Island. Visitors walk through the working ponds to see how salt farmers harvest salt using age-old methods.
Salt harvesting in this region dates back several centuries and remains active today. The museum was established in 1997 to document and preserve these traditional methods before they disappear.
The name comes directly from the salt-making tradition that has shaped life here for generations. You can watch workers in action and feel how this craft remains central to the local identity.
The site is easily accessible from the main roads of Oléron Island with parking available nearby. Wear comfortable shoes since you will be walking on paths around the ponds and surfaces can be wet or muddy.
The salt ponds support rare plants like samphire adapted to extreme salt conditions that grow along the paths. These specialized habitats also attract migrating birds that pass through regularly during their seasonal journeys.
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