7 Specialty Museums in Saumur That You Shouldn't Miss

Unique in its kind, Pierre et Lumière is an underground route where you can admire impressive sculptures representing the monuments and heritage of the Loire Valley. Hundreds of tons of stone were cut, cut and chiselled to the smallest detail. Nearly 3 years of work have been required to realize the sumptuous sculptures of castles, towns, villages and churches of our region, often carried out in low relief from the rock. A subtle luminous staging reveals the beauty of volumes and details. Lighting evolves, turns, changes colour to sublime every facet of the work. At the end of the visit, an unforgettable experience for children! A tuffeau stone, tools and wise advice. Here they are ready to create a memory that will remain etched in the stone and in their hearts.

Discover an active educational mushroom. Your senses are awakening! A fascinating world of colours and scents awaits you with a variety of cultivated varieties. Admire the largest collection of wild mushrooms in Europe. Our galleries are packed with original varieties with funny names. Look for hare ears, frizzy sparassis, panther amanite, giant wolf’s basket, dead trumpets and other beef tongues from around the world. Grow your mushrooms at home as well! Younger ones also discover the whole fungus culture, heritage of our region. They create a secret composition to produce their own mushrooms at home. With 40 years of success, this classic of the tourist circuits in Saumur always brings the same astonishment in front of these kilometers of underground galleries reserved for the cultivation of mushrooms.

A symbol of the town of Saumur, the château is an old fortress that was converted into a palace by the Dukes of Anjou (14th and 15th centuries), including King René. It then became the residence of the town’s governors, a prison, then a depot for arms and munitions. In 1906, the town bought the château from the State to house its municipal museum, which has since earned the Musée de France label. A rich collection of decorative arts currently occupies the first floor of the north and east wings. Part of the horse collection, featuring objects from Antiquity to the early 20th century, is on display in the old abbey church. The château gardens offer exceptional panoramic views of the Loire and the town. In the summer, there are activities for all the family. Forbidden to pets.