Vue du ciel, obstruée par la végétation, prise depuis le sol d'une carrière de tuffeau.

From the sub-surface to the plateau, heritage at every level

Cave dwellings, stately homes and holiday residences, gardens overlooking the Loire, vineyards on the plateau and mushroom farms in the excavated hillside are all architectural and landscape features of the Loire riverbanks in Anjou. Set off to explore the heritage of the Saumur hillside and the ‘Anjou Blanc’ landscapes, so-called because of the pale-coloured, soft rock of the Parisian Basin geological formation.

The articles, images and resources below are taken from the ga(r)zette issue #5, a gazette which featured a contribution from the Heritage Inventory Department of the Pays de la Loire Region. Clarisse Lorieux, a historian and researcher, is currently conducting a study on the Saumur hillside. Her research focuses particularly on the built and landscape heritage of four municipalities beside the Loire – Turquant, Parnay, Souzay-Champigny and Dampierre-sur-Loire – characterised by significant underground and troglodytic structures and the enduring presence of a wine-growing landscape.

Illustration principale : Fontis à Parnay. © Armelle Maugin / Conseil départemental de Maine-et-Loire