Saumur

Saumur's chateau stands on a bluff above the Loire in pale tuffeau limestone, and its silhouette of pinnacles is familiar because it appears almost unchanged in the Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, painted around 1410. The town is the home of the Cadre Noir, the riding corps of the national equestrian school, whose black-uniformed riders train in classical dressage and give public demonstrations. The tuffeau quarried from the hillside left kilometres of caves, now used to age sparkling Saumur wine by the traditional method and to grow button mushrooms, both of which run visitable underground operations.

History

The Dolmen de Bagneux on the south side of town, 23 metres long and built from 15 great slabs of local stone weighing over 500 tonnes, is the largest in France. The castle was first built in the 10th century to guard the Loire crossing after the town was sacked in 845, destroyed in 1067, rebuilt by Henry II of England in the later 12th century and fought over between Anjou and France until 1589; the town's houses are built almost entirely of tuffeau, whose quarry caves now serve as wine cellars, and its town hall was finished around 1515. In the 17th century the Academy of Saumur taught the Reformed theology of Moses Amyraut, Balzac set Eugénie Grandet here in 1833, and the town became a riding centre, with a cavalry school from 1783 and later the Cadre Noir (Wikipedia, Saumur).

What you'll find

• The white chateau - the pinnacled castle painted around 1410.
• The Cadre Noir - the national riding school's classical dressage.
• The wine caves - sparkling Saumur aged in old tuffeau quarries.
• The mushroom caves - underground growing beds open to visits.

When to go

April to October; Cadre Noir presentations run on a published schedule and book out, with the main galas in spring and autumn. The chateau closes some days in winter.

Practical notes

Cadre Noir visits are timed and sell out well ahead; morning training sessions are not always public. The chateau has had long restoration campaigns closing parts of it. Caves are cool year-round.

Nearby

Fontevraud lies southeast; the troglodyte villages are on the same hillside.