Niort
Niort, the photographer's home town: Saint-André, Notre-Dame, the market hall, the Sèvre and the dragons of rue Ricard. 42 photos
About this gallery
Karl Forterre lives in Niort, the prefecture of the Deux-Sèvres department, between La Rochelle and Poitiers: this gallery gathers the photos he has taken there through the seasons. Two church towers dominate the town. The twin neo-Gothic spires of Saint-André church rise above the tiled rooftops and the Sèvre Niortaise river, seen from a quay, a bridge or a park in autumn colors. The stone spire of Notre-Dame, more than 75 meters tall, appears above the rooftops, then sheathed in scaffolding: its restoration began in 2025, and an infrared view shows it in the middle of the works.
In the town center, the iron-and-glass market hall hosts the market, the town hall decks its carved façade with flags, the Deux-Sèvres prefecture shows off its blue and gold railings, and a Belle Époque bas-relief crowns a doorway. On rue Ricard, the bronze dragons by Jacques Hondelatte, installed in 1992 in memory of a local legend, watch pedestrians and buses go by; one of them stands at the edge of Place de la Brèche, in the rain. Along the Sèvre: a paved quay facing the spire of Notre-Dame, the letters of Port Boinot on its water tower, a flood where ducks swim, weirs, reflections, and a boat marked “Niort 79 000” left among the fallen leaves.
Add to these a rockwork staircase, gardens and their benches, the emerald waters of the Niort marshes, a few portraits taken in a park and the “La vie est belle à Niort” mug. These royalty-free photos suit stories about Niort, the Deux-Sèvres, heritage or travel, and can be downloaded for free on Pexels.