Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Bollée de la Gabillère wind turbine, installed in 1893 in the Parc du château de la Gabillère in Amboise, was designed to feed the water estate and irrigate its gardens. Sponsored by Mr Chambert, owner of the castle, it illustrates the technical innovation of the period, with a double turbine and an automatic orientation system patented by Ernest Bollée in 1885. Its architecture combines a hollow column with a helical staircase and a funnel optimizing wind capture.

Ranked a historic monument in 1991, this type 1 wind turbine (2.5 m diameter) is one of the few to retain all its original features, with the exception of an orientation propeller. It symbolizes the adaptation of renewable energies to the domestic and agricultural needs of the late 19th century. Its masonry shelter, sheltering the pump and well, demonstrates its functional role in the hydraulic management of the park.

The wind turbine is part of the tourist industrial heritage, marked by the inventions of the Bollée, a family of local engineers. Its location, on a plateau to the south of Amboise near the forest, reflects a landscape integration typical of the utility installations of the period. Today, it remains a preserved example of Bollée wind turbines, some 50 of which remain in France.

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