Moulin à vent des Basses-Terres

Moulin à vent des Basses-Terres is an 18th-century windmill standing in Les Rosiers-sur-Loire, part of the municipality of Gennes-Val-de-Loire, in the Maine-et-Loire department between Saumur and Angers. Its tower rises on a small mound of earth, which in the flat Loire valley makes it stand out as a natural landmark along the riverside route.

How old is this windmill?

The construction date is carved into the mill's underground cellar: 1725. That cellar has a domed vault and sits inside the mound on which the tower was built. A masonry tower set on an artificial rise, with a hollow chamber below, was a common solution for tower mills in the Angevin region, where the terrain rarely offered a natural hill to build on.

How did the milling mechanism work?

The Basses-Terres mill is a tower mill: a fixed masonry body topped by a rotating cap carrying the sail shaft, which millers turned to face the wind. Until the third quarter of the 19th century it ran on canvas sails, cloth stretched over a wooden frame like a ship's sail. These were later replaced by Berton-type sails, a system of adjustable wooden shutters that could be regulated from the ground without stopping the mill or climbing the frame. The wind's force turned two pairs of traditional horizontal millstones that ground the grain.

When did the mill stop working?

Milling activity is believed to have ended around 1914, when the mill was taken out of service and its sails removed — a common fate for wind-powered mills of that era, as steam and electric milling made traditional windmills economically obsolete one by one. The tower itself, together with its domed cellar, has nonetheless survived to the present in a recognisable form.

Is it a protected monument?

Yes. The Moulin à vent des Basses-Terres, together with its surviving internal mechanism, was listed as a historic monument (monument historique) by an order dated 21 December 1984. The protection covers not only the tower structure but also its internal machinery, a detail that is often lost in windmills of this kind once production stops and the interior is stripped out.

Who is this stop good for?

The site suits visitors interested in the technical and rural heritage of the Loire valley — those following the Angevin windmill trail, cyclists riding the Loire route between Saumur and Angers, and travellers looking for a quieter stop away from the region's better-known châteaux. Worth noting: the same municipality of Gennes-Val-de-Loire also has a separate windmill, the Moulin-cavier de Gasté, so it is worth checking which mill you actually mean when planning a visit.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the Moulin à vent des Basses-Terres? In Les Rosiers-sur-Loire, within the municipality of Gennes-Val-de-Loire (Maine-et-Loire), on the route between Saumur and Angers.

When was the windmill built? The tower dates from 1725, a date carved into the cellar beneath the mill.

Is the mill still operating? No. Milling is believed to have stopped around 1914 and the sails were removed; today the building has historical and architectural value rather than a working function.

Is this the same mill as the Moulin-cavier de Gasté in Gennes-Val-de-Loire? No, these are two separate windmills within the same municipality — don't confuse them when planning your visit.