Shield with a sheep (26 rue des Merciers)

La Rochelle, crest with sheep: "God grants" © Musée rochelais d'histoire protestante

The sculpted shield featuring a sheep topped with three coins and the text ‘God heareth the needy’.

This remnant is all the more interesting as Biblical texts, once frequent on Protestant houses have almost all disappeared. Some can still be seen for instance in the garden of the Fine Arts museum, or on the facade of the house said to have belonged to  Nicolas Venette, 22 rue Admyrauld, and also on a pillar of one of the first houses with porches on the cours des Dames.

Associated tours

A walk through Protestant La Rochelle

As early as 1546, La Rochelle was one of the major cities in the kingdom won over to the Reformation. La Rochelle had been an economic and maritime power since...