The Musée des Blindés is a tank museum located in Saumur and one of the world's largest tank museums. The museum has the world's largest collection of armoured fighting vehicles and contains well over 880 vehicles, although the British Bovington Tank Museum has a larger number of tanks. 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 for cavalry and holds the current Armoured Cavalry Branch Training School. 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.
References:The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.
The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.
The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.
The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.