Gennes, Maine-et-Loire


Gennes is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Gennes-Val-de-Loire.

History

Gennes was the scene of a World War II battle in June 1940, during the Battle of Saumur during the last stages of the Battle of France. The French casualties, seventeen Cadets of the Cadre noir Saumur Cavalry school, killed between 17 and 20 June 1940, are buried in the enclosure of the 11th century Saint-Eusèbe church built over an ancient Gallo-Roman sanctuary, on a hilltop overlooking the scene of their sacrifice.
The castle of Milly-le-Meugon, in its vicinity, was the property of the Maillé-Brézé family, closely related to the French royal family through the First Prince of the Blood, Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé.