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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Saumur came into being in the 10th century under Thibaud the Tricheur, Count of Blois, who erected the first fortifications to protect the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Florent-du-Boële. In 1026, Foulques III d'Anjou (Foulques Nerra) seized and moved the monks. In the 13th century, Philippe Auguste destroyed the old structures to build a barlong dungeon and foothills, marking the beginning of his vocation as a royal fortress. Saint Louis, in 1227, raised the fort to make it a strategic base against the Plantagenets.

Between 1368 and 1377, Louis I of Anjou transformed the fortress into a palace by replacing the round towers with octagonal towers and adding a wing of the palace. His grandson, René d'Anjou, resided there until 1480, nicknamed the "love castle" and beautifying, as evidenced by his appearance in The Most Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry. In the 16th century, Italian ramparts and a bastioned enclosure (completed in 1646) modernized its defences, under the impulse of Philippe Duplessis-Mornay.

Until the Revolution, the castle served as a residence for the governors of Saumur and prison. In 1810, Napoleon briefly made it a state prison, then Louis XVIII converted it into a weapons depot until 1889. Repurchased by the city in 1906, it became a municipal museum in 1912, now home to collections of decorative arts, archaeology and a section dedicated to horses, with more than 35,000 objects. Ranked a historic monument in 1862 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it remains a symbol of the Loire Valley.

Its architecture blends 12th century Romanesque dungeon, 14th century octagonal towers, and double revolution staircase inspired by Leonardo da Vinci. The courtyard preserves remains of Saint-Florent Abbey, while the gardens offer a panorama of the Loire and Thouet. In 2001, the partial collapse of a ramparts led to a major restoration, completed in 2007 for foundations and in 2012 for the honorary staircase.

The museum, labeled Musée de France, attracts nearly 94,000 visitors annually (2018). His collections include medieval tapestries, ceramics (lighted by Count Charles Lair), and an ethnological section on horse, unique in Europe. The south wing and the gazebo make it possible to admire the double screw staircase, similar to that of the Louvre, while the lower courtyard reveals the traces of seigneurial justice with the large bay hall.

Once again listed as a historical monument in 1964, the castle embodies nearly a thousand years of history, from the Counts of Anjou to the Wars of Religion, including its prison role and its museum renaissance. Its staircase, ramparts and collections make it a jewel of the Liguria heritage, witness to the architectural and political evolution of France.

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