Editing Saumur (section)

==Main attractions==

Saumur is home to the [[Cadre Noir]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Official Website of The French national horse riding school|title=The French national horse riding school|url=http://www.cadrenoir.fr/en/accueil-ene}}</ref> the École Nationale d'Équitation ([[National Equestrian School]]), known for its annual horse shows, as well as the [[Armoured Branch and Cavalry Training School]], the [[officer (armed forces)|officer]] school for armored forces ([[tank]]s).

There is the national tank museum, the [[Musée des Blindés]], with more than 850 armored vehicles, wheeled or tracked.  Most of them are from France, though some come from other countries such as [[Brazil]], [[Germany]], and the [[Soviet Union]], as well as axis and allied vehicles of World War Two.

The annual military ''Carrousel'' takes place in July each year, as it has done for over 160 years, with displays of horse cavalry skills, historic and modern military vehicles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ot-saumur.fr/LE-CARROUSEL-DE-SAUMUR_a23877.html |title=LE CARROUSEL DE SAUMUR |date=29 December 2022 |publisher=Saumur}}</ref>

Amongst the most important monuments of Saumur are the great [[Château de Saumur]] itself which stands high above the town, and the nearby Château de Beaulieu which stands just 200 metres from the south bank of the Loire River and which was designed by the architect Jean Drapeau. A giant sequoia tree (which is protected) stands in the grounds of Château de Beaulieu. The [[Dolmen de Bagneux]] is on the old road going south.

The architectural character of the town owes much to the fact that it is constructed almost exclusively of [[Tuffeau stone]].<ref name="Hare1890">{{cite book|author=Augustus John Cuthbert Hare|title=South-western France|url=https://archive.org/details/southwesternfra02haregoog|access-date=21 February 2011|year=1890|publisher=G. Allen|pages=[https://archive.org/details/southwesternfra02haregoog/page/n98 84]–}}</ref>

The [[Saumur (wine)|wine industry surrounds Saumur]], many utilising the tunnels as cellars with the hundreds of domaines producing white, red, rosé and sparkling wines. Visits to producers and the annual ''Grandes Tablées du Saumur-Champigny'' is an annual event held in early August with over 1&nbsp;km of tables set up in Saumur so people can sample the local foods and wine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://france.fr/fr/agenda/grandes-tablees-saumur-champigny-saumur |title="Les Grandes Tablées du Saumur-Champigny" à Saumur |publisher=france.fr}}</ref>

Saumur has a weekly market every Saturday morning with hundreds of stalls open for business in the streets and squares of the old town, from before 8am.
[[File:Puente Cessart sobre el rio Loira en Saumur.jpg|alt=Cessart Bridge over the Loire River in Saumur|thumb|upright=1.5|Cessart Bridge over the [[River Loire]] in Saumur]]