Saumur station

The arrondissement of Saumur is an arrondissement of France in the Maine-et-Loire departement in the Pays de la Loire region. It has 52 communes. Its population is 135,333 (2016), and its area is 1,968.0 km2 (759.8 sq mi).

The Communauté d'agglomération Saumur Val de Loire is an intercommunal structure in the Loire Valley gathering 45 communes including Saumur. It is located in the Maine-et-Loire département, in the Pays de la Loire région, western France. It was formed on 1 January 2017 by the merger of the former Communauté d'agglomération de Saumur Loire Développement, the Communauté de communes Loire Longué, the Communauté de communes du Gennois and the Communauté de communes de la région de Doué-la-Fontaine. Its area is 1233.7 km2. Its population was 99,236 in 2018, of which 26,599 in Saumur proper.

The Capture of Saumur (French: Capture de Saumur) was the military investment of the Huguenot city of Saumur accomplished by the young French king Louis XIII on 11 May 1621, following the outbreak of the Huguenot rebellions. Although the Huguenot city was faithful to the king, Louis XIII nevertheless wished to affirm control over it. The Governor of the city Duplessy-Mornay was tricked out of his command of Saumur and the city was invested. Louis XIII then continued his campaign southward against the Huguenots, and moved to the Protestant stronghold of Saint-Jean-d'Angély led by Rohan's brother Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise. This led to the month-long Siege of Saint-Jean-d'Angély, and to a succession of other sieges in the south of France. On 24 June 1621, Louis XIII's campaign ended in a stalemate, leading to the 1622 Peace of Montpellier, which temporarily confirmed the rights of the Huguenots in France.

The Battle of Saumur took place during the Vendee Revolt. It occurred in the town of Saumur on 11 June 1793. As at the battle of Thouars, the Republican prisoners were released after swearing not to fight again in the Vendée and having had their hair shaved off so they could be recognised lest they went back on their word and were recaptured. In the prison at Saumur, the Vendéens found general Pierre Quétineau who had been taken prisoner after his defeat at Thouars. General Lescure, knowing that his defeated opponent was under threat of a sentence of death from the revolutionary court, proposed to the republican general to remain among the royalists but not have to fight for them. Pierre Quétineau refused out of conviction, realising that even if he was safe the revolutionary court could instead punish his family if he was seen to be siding with the counter-revolutionaries, and returned to republican territory. There he was arrested and condemned to death for being defeated, as later was his wife. Shortly after this battle, Cathelineau was elected generalisimo of the Catholic and Royal Army.

Saumur (French: [somyʁ] ) is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur station has rail connections to Tours, Angers, La Roche-sur-Yon and Nantes.

The canton of Saumur is an administrative division of the Maine-et-Loire department, in western France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Saumur.It consists of the following communes:

The Château de Saumur, originally built as a castle and later developed as a château, is located in the French town of Saumur, in the Maine-et-Loire département. It was originally constructed in the 10th century by Theobald I, Count of Blois, as a fortified stronghold against Norman attacks. It overlooks the confluence of the rivers Loire and Thouet. In 1026 it came into the hands of Fulk Nerra, count of Anjou, who bequeathed it to his Plantagenet heirs. Following its destruction in 1067, the castle was rebuilt by Henry II of England in the later 12th century.

The Musée des Blindés ("Museum of Armoured Vehicles") or Musée Général Estienne is a tank museum located in the Loire Valley of France, in the town of Saumur. It is now one of the world's largest tank museums. It began in 1977 under the leadership of Colonel Michel Aubry, who convinced both the French military hierarchy and the local political authorities. Started 47 years ago with only a few hundred tracked vehicles, it has become a world-class collection which attracts visitors interested in the history of multinational tank development as well as professional armor specialists. From the very beginning, Colonel Aubry had made it a key policy of the museum to restore to running condition as many historically or technically significant vehicles as was feasible. The museum has the world's largest collection of armoured fighting vehicles and contains well over 880 vehicles, although the British Tank Museum has a larger number of tanks. Because of shortage of space, less than a quarter can be exhibited, despite the move to a much larger building in 1993. Over 200 of the vehicles are fully functional, including the only surviving German Tiger II tank still in full working order. It often performs in the spectacular armor demonstration for the public, called the Carrousel, which takes place in the summer every year. Saumur was the traditional training center for cavalry for over a century but now holds the current Armoured Cavalry Branch Training School which is entirely dedicated to training armor specialists. The tank museum had its early origins in a study collection. It is still a State institution funded by the Army, but it is managed by the Association des Amis du Musée des Blindés which publishes a substantial yearly magazine and encourages membership from the public. There is also a separate traditional horse cavalry museum in the town of Saumur.

The Abbey of Saint-Florent, Saumur, also Saint-Florent-lès-Saumur or Saint-Florent-le-Jeune, was a Benedictine abbey in Anjou founded in the 11th century near Saumur, France. It was the successor of the Abbey of Saint-Florent-le-Vieil which was abandoned by its monks during raids of the Vikings. Following its surrender in the French Revolution, most of the monastic buildings were destroyed in the 19th century. The remainder were listed as a historical monument in 1964 and 1973.

The dolmen de Bagneux is a megalith located in Saumur, France. It is one of the largest dolmen in France and in Europe.

The Thouet (French pronunciation: [twɛ]) is a tributary of the Loire in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Pays de la Loire regions of western France. The Thouet rises at Secondigny, close to the source of the Sèvre Nantaise, and joins the Loire just to the west of Saumur. It is 142.6 km (88.6 mi) long, and drains an area of 3,396 km2 (1,311 sq mi).The river's name derives from the ancient Gallic word for tranquil.

Villebernier (French pronunciation: [vilbɛʁnje] ) is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. It is located on the Northern bank of the Loire river, between Angers and Tours. A couple of architectural treasures can be found in the village. A Romanesque church and the manor of Launay was built by Roi René in 1414. The chapel Notre-Dame-des-Eaux, built in 1843 by priest Théar, has a unique round architecture. In 2018, the village had 1464 inhabitants.