Rose Days in Doué en Anjou
Around 7 million rose bushes are cultivated in Doué la Fontaine, also known as the town of roses. Since 1959, rose-growers have organised a rose exhibition in a cave gallery adjoining the Arenas. This unusual setting is formed by the shell deposits that the Faluns sea has left behind since the tertiary era.
100,000 roses cut that very morning are exhibited amid the crystalline cascades, fountains and magical lights, beneath the rocky ceiling.
The local landscape gardeners artfully evoke French, English and Japanese gardens. The tour is a walk of over a hundred metres in galleries where the rocky backdrop makes the roses stand out in all their splendour.
Doué-en-Anjou
Doué-en-Anjou is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France. The municipality was established on 30 December 2016 and consists of the former communes of Brigné, Concourson-sur-Layon, Doué-la-Fontaine, Forges, Meigné, Montfort, Saint-Georges-sur-Layon and Les Verchers-sur-Layon.
It is Edmée Crespin-Chatenay (grandson of the gardener of Louis XIV) who began growing the rose in Doué in the eighteenth century. Thanks to the well-known mildness of the climate and the richness of the soil, this culture has grown considerably. More than 45% of the national production comes from Douessin, making this region the first center in Europe with more than 7 million roses per year.
The other distinctive feature of this city is its famous troglodyte heritage.
The troglodyte cave site of Perrières in Doué-la-Fontaine is a unique and beautiful cave worth a visit and the roses of the festival make it more beautiful.
Learn more about the Rose Days in Doué en Anjou
