Musée des Blindés

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The oldest tank in running condition in the world, a Schneider CA, participates in the Carroussel

The Musée des Blindés or Musée Général Estienne is one of the world's leading tank museums. It is located in the Loire Valley of France at the city of Saumur.

The museum has the world's largest collection of armoured fighting vehicles (although the British Bovington Tank Museum has a larger number of tanks) and contains well over 880 vehicles. Less than a quarter can be exhibited due to space limitations despite the move to a much larger building in 1993. Over 200 of the vehicles are fully functional, in the past often performing in the annual cavalry show, the Carrousel. Saumur has been the traditional training centre of the French Cavalry and the museum has its origins in the study collection. It's still a State institution, run by the Army. There is also a separate cavalry museum at Saumur. The museum's pride are the many German tanks and a few unique French vehicles, such as the last surviving Schneider CA1, St Chamond, AMC 35, AMR 33 and ARL 44. All experimental French military vehicles the development of which has been abandoned are kept here. The vast storage rooms are only accessible to special guests. There's an enormous library, archiving the records of the history of French armour. The museum was renamed after General Jean-Baptiste Eugène Estienne, the creator of the French tank arm.