Saumur is a French commune, sub-prefecture of the department of Maine-et-Loire, in the Pays de la Loire region. It is the third commune of the department in terms of number of inhabitants. On February 1, 1973, Saumur joined forces with four neighboring municipalities: Bagneux, Dampierre-sur-Loire, Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent and Saint-Lambert-des-Levées. Saumur is particularly known for its Cavalry School, its castle and its wines.
Cultural activities
Armored Museum Boulevard Jean Moulin - Rue
Fricotelle - Route de Frontevraud - The largest in Europe, with
vehicles all in working order, including some extremely rare pieces
and also very interesting if you are interested in the subject.
Toy museum
Mushroom Museum (In Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent, a
little north of the city on the left bank of the Loire.) € 9 full
price, several reduced prices .. - Saumur being the main place of
production of mushrooms Paris. This mushroom house is associated
with a troglodyte museum named Pierre et Lumière, located just next
door
Saumur castle
The Château de Saumur is a French castle located
in the Loire Valley in the commune of Saumur, in Maine-et-Loire, at
the confluence of the Loire and the Thouet. It was classified as a
historical monument in 1862, and is registered on the UNESCO World
Heritage List as part of the Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire
and Chalonnes-sur-Loire.
The castle of Saumur knew its first
fortifications under Thibaud Ier the Tricheur, count of Blois, in
the tenth century. The first stones are laid around the Benedictine
abbey of Saint-Florent.
In 1026, it became the property of
the Count of Anjou, the famous Foulques Nerra, who bequeathed it to
his Plantagenêt heirs.
In 1203, Philippe Auguste, King of
France and Capetian, seized the castle. He burns the previous
fortifications and decides to fortify the position for the next
offensives. He had a barlong shaped keep and buttresses built.
The castle became a royal fortress with King Saint Louis who, in
1227, had the fort enhanced.
From 1368, Louis I of Anjou,
grandson of Philippe VI, had the old round towers replaced by
octagonal towers and thus undertook nine years of work.
René
d'Anjou appreciably improves the comfort of the whole of the castle
which he nicknamed the “love castle”, which appears in the Très
Riches Heures of the Duke of Berry (folio for the month of September
representing the harvest). René lived there until 1480.
In
1589, Governor Philippe Duplessis- Mornay resided in the castle to
be able to modernize and rehabilitate it.
In the sixteenth
century, an Italian military-architect who remained under the name
of Bartholomeo (probably Ercole Negro's father), reinforced the
castle's defenses by building an enclosure there along an
Italian-style layout.
The castle became in 1810 a prison by
order of Napoleon. The work took six years, but the cells would only
be used for three months until Napoleon's first exile.
It
becomes in 1814, under Louis XVIII, a depot of weapons and
ammunition, but the inhabitants of Saumur often complain about the
explosions which take place in the castle.
It was in 1862
that it was classified as a Historic Monument.
On April 22, 2001,
the western part of the northern rampart collapsed and damaged part
of the houses located below. It follows a work of stabilization of
the basement and reconstruction of the rampart which was completed
in 2007.
The museum
The city of Saumur bought the castle
from the State in 1906 and gradually renovated it, installing a
museum of decorative arts (donation from Count Charles Lair for most
of the works on display, ceramics and furniture) as well as that of
the Harnachement de Chevaux.
In 1912, the monument was
partially restored and opened to the public. It therefore houses the
municipal museum on the first floor of the north wing and the horse
museum on the second floor. The establishment is now labeled Musée
de France.
Different collections are present, such as:
ceramics, tapestries (from the 15th to the 18th century), furniture.
Architecture
At the end of the tenth century, a wall one
kilometer long, called “Boile's wall”, surrounds the promontory,
thus delimiting an area of around 6 hectares.
During the
second half of the eleventh century, embankments were accumulated
against the tower, which made the ground floor the cellar. It is
possible to discover it under the courtyard of the castle. The
construction of this castle motte allows the creation of a platform
of 7 to 8 meters.
In the 12th century, under the
Plantagenets, a Romanesque tower was built. Its layout is classic,
it is a quadrangular plan of 19 by 20 meters. Its walls are thick
(2.90 m) and reinforced by buttresses.
In the thirteenth
century, a new enclosure was built. In its center, the Romanesque
keep, and around its castle motte, high curtain walls are attached.
These modifications give the plan of a quartered square with the
angles of circular towers pierced with arches.
In the
fourteenth century, despite the fact that the four towers were
clipped, four different levels can be distinguished for a diameter
between 9 and 10 meters. There is a semi-underground level, with
above it, two floors equipped with arches. The highest level is made
of a frame structure covered with a slate roof.
At the end of
the 16th century, ramparts were added around the castle.
The castle has a double revolution staircase, similar to that
imagined by Leonardo da Vinci. It allowed nobles and servants to use
the same staircase without ever crossing each other. Access to the
belvedere allows you to discover the south wing and take this double
spiral staircase. Note also the main staircase, with its 4 bays, is
the only surviving witness of an element that also existed in the
Louvre.
Reconstruction of the castle
During the second
half of the fourteenth century, Louis I of Anjou began his work with
the destruction of the old dwellings and the curtain wall erected in
the thirteenth century. Their goal is to build a ceremonial wing,
with a view of the Loire and leaning against the Romanesque tower
which is in the center of the courtyard.
The main room
occupies the floor of the large Romanesque tower. The new wing
includes in the west tower, a wardrobe, a facing room and a recess.
Three master sculptors are called upon to make the windows, doors
and fireplaces: they come from Tours and Chinon, they are Simon
Corbet, Thomas Cailleau and his son Jehan.
Found in the
poultry yard to the west of the castle, a building called the “large
bailiff room” which houses a court audience.
A chicane device
with two ditches and two drawbridges is reinforced to access the
high tower. In 1368, the entry postern of the farmyard was enhanced
by three rows of stones.