Saumur

Sister cities

• Asheville
• Warwick
• Havelberg
• Formigine

History

The Dolmen de Bagneux on the south of the town, is 23 meters long and is built from 15 large slabs of the local stone, weighing over 500 tons. It is the largest in France. The Château de Saumur was constructed in the 10th century to protect the Loire River crossing from Norman attacks after the settlement of Saumur was sacked in 845. The castle, destroyed in 1067 and inherited by the House of Plantagenet, was rebuilt by Henry II of England in the later 12th century. It changed hands several times between Anjou and France until 1589. Houses in Saumur are constructed almost exclusively of Tuffeau stone. The caves dug to excavate the stone are now often used as commercial wine cellars. The Hôtel de Ville was completed in around 1515. Amyraldism, or the School of Saumur, is a distinctive form of Reformed theology taught by Moses Amyraut at the Academy of Saumur in the 17th century. Saumur is also the scene for Balzac's novel Eugénie Grandet, written in 1833. Prior to the French Revolution, Saumur was the capital of the , a bailiwick which existed until 1793. Saumur was the location of the Battle of Saumur during the Revolt in the Vendée. It hosted a state prison under Napoleon. The town was an equestrian centre with both the military cavalry school from 1783 and later the Cadre Noir equestrian team. During the Battle of France in World War II, Saumur was the site of the Battle of Saumur (1940); the town and south bank of the Loire were defended by the teenage cadets of the cavalry school. In 1944 it was the target of the first Tallboy and the fourth Azon bombing raids by Allied planes. On 8/9 June 1944, Tallboy "earthquake" bombs were first used, against a railway tunnel near Saumur. The hastily organized night raid was to stop a planned German Panzer Division which…