The 10 Best Historic Sites in Maine et Loire, Pays de la Loire

This winery produces some of the most renowned wines in the entire Loire Valley.

Brissac is among the most impressive of all the Loire Valley Castles ! It is nicknamed " The Giant of the Loire Valley" !! And it is the home of the 13th duke of Brissac. It treasures inside a beautiful collection of ancient paintings and fine furnitures . The visit also includes the discovery of a unique private theater dedicated to Opera by a duchess of Brissac in the late XIX th century . Visitors will enjoy a wine tasting in the cellars of the wines produced on the estate ( especially the Rose of Anjou ) A beautiful landscaped gardened park of 200 are invites visitors to stroll alongside 5 romantic "promenade" ...

Visit and guided tours of the chateau and grounds that have had castles since 1063. Open 10 - 6:00 pm (18H) everyday during spring and summer.

Located in the heart of the historic part of Angers, the Collegiate Church of Saint-Martin is one of France’s most well-preserved Carolingian monument. The Collegiate is considered a major building in the history of architecture in the West of France, and is now property of the Conseil général de Maine-et-Loire. After 20 years of restoration, the Church stands as a cultural and touristic must-see in Anjou.

In a room entirely covered in wooden panelling, the Apothecary's shop is one of the most beautiful in France. It boasts a collection of vases, chemist's jars and other receptacles holding over 600 items. The "Nurturing the body and the soul" exhibition wich present a collection of over a hundred objects, furniture and paintings illustrating themes ranging from the pharmacopoeia in modern times, medicine and its treatments to life in a Hôtel-Dieu in the 17th century. The tour continues with the chapter room and the refectory, which come to life through a number of collections of furniture and objects having belonged to the community of the religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph. The complete tour thus illustrates the art of caring for the sick, the conditions in which patients were accommodated and monastic life in this extraordinary 17th century building. The garden of simples, planted in the square courtyard, is inspired by the drugs preserved in the apothecary's shop.

Founded in 1101 on the intersecting borders of three regions, Anjou, Touraine and Poitou, Fontevraud Abbey is the largest surviving monastic complex from the Middle Ages. At the heart of the Abbey Church, the reclining effigies of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II and Richard the Lionheart are a reminder of its close links with the Plantagenet kings. Converted into a prison between 1804 and 1963, then in 2000 designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Loire Valley, Fontevraud lives and breathes heritage, culture, the art of living and tradition of hospitality, continuing to embody its founder's vision of an "ideal city".