La Magnanerie, Troglodyte site and tourist attraction in Bourré, France
La Magnanerie is a troglodyte site in Bourré, in the Cher Valley, where caves dug into the soft limestone hillside served as homes, workshops, and silkworm-raising rooms. The site sits above the river and the tunnels wind through the rock, opening into small chambers with rounded walls and carved ceilings.
The caves around Bourré were dug over centuries, first to extract the soft stone used to build many of the region's houses, and later turned into living and working spaces. Silkworm farming became part of the site's activity in earlier centuries, when silk production was practiced across parts of the Loire Valley.
La Magnanerie takes its name from the French word for a place where silkworms are raised, which is exactly what these caves were used for. Walking through the underground rooms, visitors can still see how the space was arranged to keep the right conditions for the worms.
Visits are guided and last around an hour and a half, so it helps to arrive without rushing and with comfortable shoes for walking on uneven stone surfaces. The site sits on a hillside above the river and the last stretch from the parking area is on foot.
The temperature inside the rock galleries stays almost the same year round because the stone acts as a natural insulator. This was not a coincidence but the very reason these underground spaces were chosen for raising silkworms, which need steady warmth to develop properly.
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