Moulin à vent des Pelouses
MonumentHidden Treasure
Silent witnesses to the Loire Valley, the windmills of Les Pelouses embody the ingenuity of the cavier mill, a rare type of mill that combines milling with a wine cellar to protect the precious nectar of the Touraine region.
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History
Standing on the hillsides overlooking the Loire at Chouzé-sur-Loire, the Pelouses mills are one of the last tangible examples of a milling tradition specific to the Loire Valley: the moulin cavier. This type of building, unique to this wine-growing region, differs radically from its Breton or Norman cousins in its dual purpose - grinding grain and preserving wine - making it a truly singular architectural object in the French heritage landscape. What makes these mills truly unique is their deep-rooted integration into the local economy of yesteryear. Here, the stone of the base was used not only to anchor the tower: it also housed a cool cellar, protected from temperature fluctuations and, above all, away from the risk of fire caused by the friction of the overheated millstones. A brilliant architectural solution that testifies to the ability of local craftsmen to adapt traditional skills to the constraints of the land. A visit to the Pelouses mills takes you back to the rural economy of the 19th century in the Loire. You can still make out, in the squat silhouette of the tufa towers, the silent mechanics that once powered these windy hills. Deprived of their wings since 1895, the mills have regained their dignity thanks to their listing as Historic Monuments in 1975, which ensures their continued existence. The natural setting heightens the emotion of the place. Perched high above the valley, the mills offer uninterrupted views of the bed of the Loire, its islands of golden sand and the surrounding vineyards. The landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is in harmonious dialogue with the stone silhouettes that have punctuated the horizon for centuries.
Architecture
The mills at Les Pelouses belong to the type known as "moulin cavier", an architectural form characteristic of the Loire Valley and virtually absent from the rest of France. Their shape is that of a cylindrical or slightly truncated cone-shaped tower, built on a solid base of tuffeau, a soft white limestone quarried from the cliffs of the Loire, which is easy to cut and work. Tufa stone gives these buildings their characteristic blond hue, which blends harmoniously with the landscapes of the valley. The key structural feature is the basement: the cavier, the real centrepiece of these mills, is a vaulted cellar built into the base of the tower. Cool in summer and protected from frost in winter, this cellar was used to preserve wine and store grain. The thick walls - probably around a metre thick - ensured optimum thermal inertia, while the cylindrical shape of the tower offered maximum resistance to the prevailing winds that drove the wings. At the top, the tower once held a rotating mechanism that turned the wooden cap and wings to face the wind. Although the wings were dismantled in 1895, the overall silhouette of the two towers remains legible and bears witness to the sturdiness of the original construction. Together, they form a coherent architectural duo, whose balanced proportions and location on the windy heights of Chouzé are reminiscent of the functional logic behind their construction in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Related Figures
Maçons et carriers locaux du XVIIIe siècle (bâtisseurs du premier moulin)Commanditaire anonyme de 1820 (maître d'ouvrage du second moulin)Artisans meuniers de Chouzé-sur-Loire (exploitants des moulins jusqu'en 1895)Inspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (auteurs de l'inscription protectrice de 1975)
