Demeure de la Vignole

Useful Information

Location:	3 Impasse Marguerite d'Anjou, 49730 Turquant. A85 exit Saumur, through Saumur center D947 to Turquant. (47.221737, 0.035797)
Open:	04-FEB to 12-NOV daily 11:30, 15-20. [2024]
Fee:	Prices depend on season, between EUR 120 and EUR 170. [2024]
Classification:	Cave House
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	n/a
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Demeure de la Vignole, 3 Impasse Marguerite d'Anjou, 49730 Turquant, Tel: +33-241-536700. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1450	manor built by the lords of La Vignole.

Description

The Demeure de la Vignole is a small hotel with fine rooms and one underground suite. The rooms are extraordinary, as they show a carefully restored rough rock face, not the plain walls of later excavations. Underground facilities include rooms for conferences, meetings or parties. There is even a troglodyte swimming pool, the water has 28 °C.

The Marie de Médicis Troglodyte room was built in such an underground room. The walls are natural rock, the room has 30 m² and is a double. The front is half-timbered with windows letting in daylight. The room has two levels with a bedroom with oak parquet and a bathroom on the ground floor, upstairs is the reading room. Then there is the Johan de Witt Troglodyte Room, named after a Dutch resident who occupied the premises in the 17th century. It has the same size, also on two levels. The floor has terracotta tiles and solid teak parquet. And then there is the Marguerite d'Anjou Troglodyte Family Suite, with three single beds, one double and 70 m². It was named after the queen who resided at the end of her life in this manor. Ideal for a family, it has a large living room with fireplace and flat screen TV.

The hotel is a complex of buildings in front of a cliff on the southern shores of the Loire river. The huge terrace has a great view across the river. The cave dwellings are located at the foot of the cliff behind the houses. The 18th century mansion is the center of the hotel. The nearby 15th century manor was built by the lords of La Vignole, and is said to have been home to queen Marguerite d'Anjou.

This place is actually a 12th century quarry, the rocks were used for nearby castles. Later the quarries were transformed into cave houses. During the 19th century, most cave houses were abandoned and subsequently used for growing mushrooms. The chamber where now the swimming pool is located, was used for a press to press grapes. During the wars, the caves were used as shelters by the locals.