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Château de Saumur

Castles in Pays de la LoireChâteaux in Maine-et-LoireHistoric house museums in Pays de la LoireMonuments historiques of Pays de la LoireMuseums in Maine-et-Loire
Château de Saumur 2008 PD 10
Château de Saumur 2008 PD 10

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.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Château de Saumur (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Château de Saumur
Rue Jean-Paul Hugot, Saumur

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Wikipedia: Château de SaumurContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 47.256111111111 ° E -0.0725 °
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Rue Jean-Paul Hugot

Rue Jean-Paul Hugot
49400 Saumur (Saumur)
Pays de la Loire, France
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Château de Saumur 2008 PD 10
Château de Saumur 2008 PD 10
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Musée des Blindés
Musée des Blindés

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.