Chateau de Saumur in France: a monastery, an impregnable fortress, a palace and a luxurious prison. Castle of Saumur in France: a monastery, an impregnable fortress, a palace and a luxurious prison Castle of Saumur: a brief reminder for tourists
) is famous for two things: a magnificent castle standing on top of a cliff, and a riding school (Cadre Noir), where an amazing show is held for tourists every year. Another attraction of Saumur is the “troglodyte” caves. This was the name given to the houses where Huguenots lived during the religious wars in France in the 16th century. Nowadays, local authorities have restored these houses and opened them to tourists. Culinary lovers will be interested to know that there is a Mushroom Museum in Saumur. In this museum you can get acquainted with the technologies for growing these products. And yet the main city attraction is the city castle. Like many other castles in the Loire Valley, the Chateau de Saumur has undergone several major reconstructions since its construction. However, the castle has managed to retain its Gothic features.
Saumur Photos
The castle of Saumur is located on a rock that locals call “emerald”. The first castle on this site was erected by the Count of Blois, Thib Plutou. True, Tib did not remain the ruler of his castle for long. The famous robber of medieval France, Duke of Anjou Fulk Nerra, became interested in him, and quite quickly and without much loss added Saumur to the list of his possessions. Subsequently, the Geoffrey Plantagenet fortress was built here. And then the castle of St. Louis was built. In 1203, Saumur became part of the royal domain. A known enemy of the English and the House of Anjou, Philip Augustus captured the castle and its surrounding areas. Several decades later, during the regency of Blanca of Castile, the castle was significantly expanded and fortified. Obviously, the French intended to make Saumur a stronghold for an attack on the possessions of the English king.
Photo Saumur Notre Dame Church
True, only two years after the completion of the castle construction Saumur lost its military significance in . By order of King Louis the Saint, a new fortress was built in Angers, which then became the main fortress in this region for the French. In the 14th century, the castle of Saumur, through the efforts of Louis the First of Anjou, was converted into a luxurious residence for the duke. Louis decided not to destroy the original layout of the castle, but to rebuild it. Louis’s grandson, who was called “the good King Rene,” also spent a lot of effort and money on rebuilding the castle. It was in those years that the Chateau de Saumur was praised as the “Castle of Love.” After the death of Rene, the Duchy of Anjou lost the remnants of its independence, and Saumur completely passed to the French crown. The king had no plans for the castle at Saumur, and it was simply garrisoned with royal soldiers.
Photo Castle Saumur
The years of religious wars were very turbulent for Saumur. By the Treaty of Tours, King Henry III (the last of the Valois dynasty) ceded Saumur to King Henry of Navarre, who later became King of France under the name Henry IV. In Saumur, the majority of the inhabitants were Protestants, and Henry entrusted the government of the city to his friend Philippe Duplessis-Mornay. Mornay did a lot to strengthen the castle. He completely restored its military significance, surrounding the castle with powerful ramparts and deep ditches. Mornay did not forget about the city itself. For example, he founded the famous Protestant Academy in Saumur. In 1621, the new king, Louis the Thirteenth, replaced Mornay with a new protege. Since then, the castle of Saumur has completely lost its military significance. It was turned into a prison whose most famous prisoner was the Marquis de Sade.
In 1889 Saumur castle was removed from the list of military buildings (by the way, restoration work was carried out at the castle at the beginning of the 19th century) and declared a monument of historical significance. Since 1912, the Chateau de Saumur has housed the City Museum.
About the castle
Chateau de Saumur is one of the most beautiful and famous castles in the Loire. It is located in the department of Maine-et-Loire, at the confluence of the Loire and Thue rivers. The castle of Saumur has the shape of an irregular quadrangle, at the corners of which there are round towers. Western and south tower The masonry from the 13th century has still been preserved. The eastern tower has been restored, its vault is decorated with the coats of arms of the Angevin family. Ancient and magnificent Saumur with its white towers and walls sets the tone for the architecture of the entire city, towering above it.
This castle is so beautiful that the poet-king René the Good (of Anjou) chose it to describe the castle of Love in his novel “The Heart Captured by Love.” This castle was built on an emerald rock. The walls of the castle were made of pure crystal, and at the end of each wall stood a tower made of ruby stones that glowed with a bright light. The towers were covered with platinum, and the house itself was covered with tiles made of pure gold, on which the motto of the God of Love was inscribed in enamel: “To a trembling heart.” This is how King Rene described Saumur, one of the legendary castles in France.
History of the castle
In the very heart of France, among vineyards and lush green meadows, the ancient town of Saumur lives its quiet and measured life. Its name comes from the Latin “sol murus”, which means “small fort in the swamps”.
The Count of Anjou recaptured this fortress from Tybalt the Evil (Count de Blois). He completed the then weak tower, expanded it, and strengthened it. The fort was then rebuilt by Geoffroy Plantagenet. And in 1203, Philip Augustus included the castle of Saumur as part of the royal lands.
According to historians, during the regency of Blanche of Castile, a powerful fortress was erected on the site of the fort so that the French Crown could regain Angers and Anjou, lost at the conclusion of the Treaty of Vendôme. Saumur was not a military fortress for long - only two years from the time of construction.
In 1360, Louis I of Anjou took possession of Saumur, and through his efforts the old, rough fortress acquired the features of a country castle. The Duke did not demolish the legacy of his ancestors, but decided only to make his own adjustments. He used the old building plan without changing it, but only adding to it. On the basis of the round towers, he ordered the construction of polygonal ones, providing them with high buttresses that would support a sentinel belt with jagged hinged loopholes. The following changes occurred with Saumur in 1454. According to the intendant's records and accounts kept in the National Archives, we can say that work was carried out at the castle in the years 1454 - 1472. Their scale and grandeur can be judged by the funds spent. All that remains of the early buildings are two small vaulted rooms located in a square tower, a chapel on the second floor and an alley leading from a steep slope to the tower.
In 1480, after the death of King René, the Duchy of Anjou came into the possession of the French Crown. The castle houses the royal garrison.
A century later, in connection with the Reformation, the fate of Saumur changes dramatically. The religious wars, due to the intrigues of the League and the machinations of Spain, forced Henry III to ask for help from the King of Navarre. In Tours, an agreement was signed that Henry III would cede the castle of Saumur to the King of Navarre. The future Henry IV gave military leadership of the fortress to his friend and ambassador Philippe Duplessis-Mornay.
In 1589, on April 15, Duplessis-Mornay brought his garrison into the castle. A day later, the King of Navarre arrives in Saumur. He, rejoicing at having received such a “tidbit” of the Loire, gives the new governor the order to strengthen this place. To do this, King Bartolomeo’s engineer arrives at the fortress; he is tasked with “without skimping on anything” to draw up a design for the castle and bring it to life. He erected city fortifications, a fortress wall with battlements and watchtowers, which still surrounds the castle.
Arriving in Saumur, Mornay and his family settled in town house No. 45 on Grand Rue. But in 1596, he decides to settle in the castle due to a conspiracy of the townspeople who threatened the ambassador to seize him and commit reprisals. To bring the castle into a habitable condition, Duplessis-Mornay had to spend a considerable amount, but these costs were justified. An experienced diplomat and former military man, Mornay was also a learned theologian. And in 1593, he created a Protestant academy in the castle, which brought glory to the city for a whole century.
Despite the fact that Mornay was loyal to the Crown, in 1621 he fell from grace. Louis XIII replaced him with a Catholic ruler and from then on Saumur ceased to play an important political and military role. For two centuries it becomes a prison.
As a prison, the castle of Saumur gained great fame. People of noble birth and rank who were imprisoned due to secret denunciations were kept here. As a rule, these prisoners enjoyed a free regime - they were allowed to have a servant or a small retinue, and they could visit the city. Very often these gentlemen were invited to the table of the Lieutenant of His Highness the King, who “ruled” the settlement.
It is worth noting some people who visited the castle-prison. Admiral Kerguelen served his sentence here for four years for abandoning his ship with people on board on the high seas. The Marquis de Sade, famous for his debauchery, stayed here for two weeks before he was sent to Pierre-Ancis prison. In 1779, during the American War of Independence, 800 English prisoners languished in the castle. Most of them were sailors, which is proven by the signatures and images of ships left on the walls.
In 1811 - 1814, restoration work was carried out at the castle. At this time the entire northeast wing was divided into cells, as the engineer had received orders not to forget that the prison should have many isolated rooms. As soon as the prison began operating, the provisional government ordered the release of all prisoners.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Saumur bought the castle from the state for 2,500 francs (a small amount) and decided to restore it. This idea was implemented at the expense of the city and the administration of the Academy of Fine Arts.
It was during the restoration that large fireplaces, a stained glass window in the chapel, enameled tiles, and a coin depicting Louis XIV were discovered.
Unfortunately, the restoration, which was carried out very carefully and painstakingly, was unable to recreate the splendor and elegance that were inherent in 14th-century Saumur.
In 1912, the Municipal Museum opened on the second floor of the castle. The third floor is occupied by the Equestrian Museum.
Information for tourists
Schedule:
April 01-June 30 and September 01-November 03: 10:00-13:00 / 14:00-17:30 (Tuesday to Sunday)
July 01-August 31: 10:00-18:00 (Tuesday to Sunday)
Entrance fees:
Adult - €3
Children from 7 to 16 years old - €2.50
Children under 7 years old - free.
The city of Saumur is located on south coast Loire, at the confluence of the Thue River. It is considered that of all the cities of the Loire Valley this is the most elegant "bourgeois city", with beautiful castle and many picturesque city buildings stretching along both banks of the river.
For almost three hundred years, Saumur was the headquarters of the French Cavalry Academy and its successor, the Academy of Armored Forces, which did not in the least hinder its reputation (from time immemorial, the scions of the best noble families of the country joined the cavalry, as did tankers later). Local vineyards stretch for many kilometers along the tops of the limestone cliffs above the Loire, almost above the ancient cave complexes, interspersed only with sunflower fields and old windmills, giving these edges a special flavor.
Attractions
The main decoration of the city is, undoubtedly, a small but very picturesque Saumur Castle(XI-XVI centuries), recently carefully restored (in 2001, a large piece of the wall collapsed into the river). In addition to the beauty of the architecture of the complex itself, it is definitely worth getting acquainted with the collections Museum of Decorative Arts And Cavalry Museum, the oldest church in the city - Notre-Dame de Natilly with a large collection of tapestries, Gothic Church of Saint-Pierre in the center of the old town, as well as with the theological college in Basilica of Notre-Dame de Ardilliers and its huge classical rotunda, also carefully restored after the bombing in June 1940. Noteworthy ancient a stone bridge(448 meters), Church of Saint-Nicolas(XII century), Gothic town hall(XVI century), famous National Riding School in the suburb of Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent east of center cities, as well as House of Wine on the Quai Lucien-Gautier, and indeed all the wine cellars in the city (and there are about a dozen of them here).
Around the city
To the east of Saumur, the warm and sunny climate combined with limestone and tuff soil provide ideal conditions for growing grapes, which is why the local red wines of Saumur-Champigny are famous throughout the country. You can visit the caves of numerous wine producers in the pretty villages around Parnet, in Les Val-Ulins, Troglo des Pom Tapes and Turkana, and from the walls of the latter you can also go on an excursion to the regional natural park.
A characteristic feature of the city's surroundings is the abundance cave settlements- between Saumur and Angers stretch more than a hundred different underground complexes, carved by people into soft coastal rocks over many centuries. Chronicles of the 12th century even indicated that half the local population lived “in houses carved out of the rock,” and even today these amazing buildings don't go to waste. Locals these caves are simply called “troglo” and are widely used for warehouses, bars and restaurants, and in the south of the department, where the cliffs are not so high and caves were often dug right in the middle of the fields, there is even a small rural commune of Rochemenier, which still uses caves for their intended purpose (there is even an underground chapel here).
Also in the vicinity of Saumur you can visit Brez castle(XVI century, 10 km southeast of the city) with its colossal defensive moat - by the way, the largest in Europe, Romanesque complex Fontevraud Abbey www.abbaye-fontevraud.com (XI century, 13 km southeast of the city) with the Plantagenet necropolis and the Cultural Center of Western France, as well as Monsoreau(XV century, now here is the Museum of River Trade) 1 km downstream of the river.
The Chateau de Saumur is located in the city of the same name, in the French department of Maine-et-Loire. It rises above the confluence of the Loire and Thuey rivers.
The castle was built in the 10th century by Theobald I, Count of Blois, to defend against Norman raids. In 1026, the castle of Saumur came into the possession of the Count of Anjou, Fulk the Black, who, in turn, passed it on to his heirs - the founders of the royal Plantagenet dynasty. In 1067, the castle was destroyed; it was restored only at the end of the 12th century by order of the English king Henry II.
At the beginning of the 13th century, King Philip II Augustus of France annexed Saumur to his royal domain, making it part of his personal possessions.
In 1227, King Louis IX the Saint further strengthened the castle, and in 1367, the grandson of King Philip VI replaced the round towers of the fortress with octagonal ones. In the 15th century, the castle was slightly renovated by Duke René the Good, who also built the Tarascon fortress, located in the south of France.
The Castle of Saumur is depicted in the unique 15th-century manuscript “The Magnificent Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry”, namely in the miniature “September” from the cycle “The Seasons”. It is impossible to accurately identify the artist, but the authors are believed to be the brothers Limbourg and Jean Colomb. The painting shows the grape harvest at the southern façade of the Chateau de Saumur. The castle itself is depicted as it looked around 1410.
In the 16th century, the idea of a new fortification of the castle appeared - to build deeper bastions and curtains. It is worth noting the uniqueness of such a project - only the great military architect Vauban managed to realize this plan a hundred years later.
In 1589, King Henry IV of Navarre gave the castle to one of his associates, Philippe Duplessis-Mornay. But soon the castle was abandoned. Since 1621, it housed barracks and a weapons depot, and then, during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, it housed a prison.
In 1862, the castle of Saumur became part of the cultural and artistic monuments of France. At the beginning of the 20th century, the city authorities became the owners of the castle and began restoration work. Now the castle houses several museums: decorative arts, horses, ancient toys and figurines depicting French kings. The castle's dungeons and its watchtower are also open to the public.
Saumur Castle (château de Saumur) is located near the confluence of the Thue River with the Loire in the Maine-et-Loire department.
Historical chronicles
The first military fort on the site of the Saumur castle was built by the Count of Blois Thibault I in the 10th century. Later it was captured by the troops of the Count of Anjou, the new overlord rebuilt and strengthened the fortress. In 1203, under Philip Augustus, the important fortress and the surrounding lands became part of the royal domain.
In 1360, Louis I of Anjou rebuilt the fortress, and it acquired the features of a country palace. At this time, instead of the old round towers, polygonal ones were built with buttresses supporting their walls. In 1454-1472, the castle underwent even more significant changes, as a result of which only two small rooms remained from the old buildings.
In 1480, the castle of Saumur returned to the ownership of the French kings. During the religious wars, Henry III, in order to conclude an alliance with Navarre, was forced to cede it to Henry of Navarre, who transferred control of the castle to F. Duplessis-Mornay in 1589. Under his leadership, star-shaped fortress walls and watchtowers were erected around the castle according to the design of the Italian architect Bartolomeo.
Under Louis XIII, the owner of the Saumur castle fell out of favor and was deprived of his possessions, and the castle became a prison for two centuries. Among its most famous prisoners are Admiral Kerguelen and the Marquis de Sade. In the 18th century During the war for the independence of the American colonies, about 800 Englishmen became its prisoners. In 1811-1814, the prison was expanded by rebuilding and dividing the right wing of the castle into cells.
At the beginning of the 20th century. The mayor's office of Sumer bought the castle from the state for 2,500 francs. During the subsequent restoration, the stained glass windows of the chapel and the fireplaces of the castle were restored. In 1912, part of the halls of the Chateau de Saumur were transferred to the disposal of the regional historical museum.
Features of castle architecture
According to the original plan, Saumur Castle was built around the perimeter of a rectangular courtyard of irregular shape. At its corners are erected tall towers. The walls of the southern and western towers contain masonry from the 13th century. In the central part of the fortress you can see the foundation of the donjon medieval castle, built in the Romanesque style.
On the northwestern side of the castle there is a grand staircase, slightly protruding beyond the main volume of the main building. During the restoration of the castle at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. Based on ancient drawings from the “Magnificent Book of Hours,” the decor of the southern wing of the Chateau de Saumur was restored. At the same time, the chimneys, pointed gables and pinnacles were restored.
Castle Museums
The collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts includes collections of works by craftsmen and artists from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Several halls of the museum display French porcelain and faience of the 17th-18th centuries, products with Limoges enamel, antique furniture, tapestries, church utensils and priestly vestments. 
The exhibition of the second museum, also located within the walls of the castle, highlights the historical stages of the use of horses in various countries of the world. The museum's exhibits are divided into several sections, which contain items of horse harness, a collection of works of art dedicated to this animal, and highlight the main areas of use of horses in the army, transport, agriculture and industry.