The church of the Priory and the Bollée wind turbine. Saint-Georges-des-Sept-Voies "Church of the Priory 12th - 13th century Historic Monument Restoration of the church of Saint-Georges-des-Sept-voies Maine-et-Loire The Bollée wind turbine "The Bollée wind turbine Witness of the local history, it is then witness to the golden age of more or less important metal constructions, erected here and there at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This wind turbine, former property of the General Council was acquired by the municipality at the symbolic price of 2E in 2012. A team of volunteers is considering restoring it. It has something in common with our famous Eiffel Tower, their date of birth, 1889. Ernest Bollée was the inventor of this type of water pumping. We built these wind turbines from 1872 to 1933 - about 350 examples distributed in 44 departments, 80 are still visible today. At the time, water supply was a crucial problem in what was then an Farm-School. The General Council chose this system because of its 'economic work'. He addressed the son of Ernest Bollée, who had succeeded his father. Until 1967, this wind turbine made it possible to draw water at a depth of 33 meters. An electric pump was then installed. Dominant with its metal frame, 24 meters high, it is composed mainly of a column and a cast iron staircase with a height of 7 meters, a rotor/stator element of 5 meters in diameter, a tree in the column, of a crankshaft in the room operating a 3-piston pump at least 30 meters. To compensate for the irregularity of the wind blowing, a large water reserve of 100m3 was planned, hidden under a building, on the left under the trees. The technical novelty lies in a small pivoting rotor "the orientating butterfly", not visible because it is broken, which positions the rotor/stator assembly facing the wind or which "secures it in feathering" in case of strong wind.

Adresse
prieuré 49350, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France