The castle of Saumur is one of the most ancient castles in the Loire Valley: a massive dunjeon was built in the 10th century on the Saumur hillside. Saint-Louis later added 4 towers, at each cardinal point. In the 16th century, the Italian Architect Bartolomeo, hired by Duplessis-Mornay, a close relative of Henri IV, built the defense works of the castle.
In 1745, the castle became a prison and in 1810, a state prison. It was transformed into an arsenal until 1890. In 1906, the city of Saumur bought it back and displayed in 1912 some collections dating from the end of antiquity to the start of the 19th century. The world history of horseriding being traced in a very successful museum, with 1500 different exhibits.
Thank to a restauration, the castle got back its past splendour. In april 2001, part of the north wall fell apart, so a stabilization process was started. The oriental part was remodeled, and some earth terrains were added. On these terrains, some vineyards were planted, and some other spaces were just left in grass. Since then, the House Langlois-Chateau is proud to take part of the work for the Saumur Caste, by taking care of its vineyard !
