History
The history of the Puy du Fou as a theme park started in 1977 when Phillippe de Villiers, a twenty-seven-year-old student (now a French politician) and Jean Saint Bris, a young creator of son et lumière shows in the Loire Valley, decided to create an original show named the Cinéscénie which means "the stage in moving".
When they discovered on the 13th of June 1977 the ruins of an old renaissance castle in the village of Les Epesses near Cholet, they wrote a good scenario very quickly about a local family named Maupillier (the real name of a soldier of Vendée at the time of the conflict between Vendée and the French Republic during the French Revolution), spanning from the fourteenth century until World War II.
Phillippe de Villiers and Jean Saint Bris organised an association of 600 members (more than 3000 today) named "l'Association du Puy du Fou" which has as president today Phillippe de Villiers' son, Nicolas de Villiers.
When the first representation of the Cinéscénie began in June 1978, the show didn't have great success, but that quickly changed by the end of the first season, and with that success the show grew into a huge spectacular. It has since spawned its own micro-industry of actors, prop-makers and trainers for the featured horse riding and sword fighting, which, since 1998, has been due to the efforts of the "Académies Junior" who organized shows every year outside the Cinéscénie, such as the Paris Paname in the "Halle Renaissance" of the Grand Park, in March 2008.
The Grand Park of the Puy du Fou was opened near the Cinéscénie in 1989 and is today one of the most popular theme parks in France; in 2004, 98% of visitors were happy or very happy with their visit.
In 2011, the Grand Park of the Puy du Fou hosted the team presentations prior to the Tour de France, which was set to begin in the Vendée.
Read more about this topic: Puy Du Fou
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