Chateau
History Continued
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Chaumont-sur-Loire
The château de Chaumont [photos] was originally
constructed by the counts of Blois, during the 10th century, as a
fortress. It then became the property of the Chaumont-Amboise family
and was partially torn down on the orders of Louis XI in 1465. It was
rebuilt in 1510 by the family pursuant to their victories during the
Italian wars. By the 18th-century, the château had, in part, lost its
military look, taking on a Renaissance air. Upon the death of François
I, Catherine de Médicis forced Diane de Poitiers, François' mistress, to
exchange Chenonceaux for Chaumont-sur-Loire.
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Chenonceaux
The château of
Chenonceaux [photos], is located in the region of
Centre, département of
Indre-et-Loire, on the right [north] bank of the Cher River east of
Tours. It is a smaller and privately owned château, but is generally
considered to be the most beautiful in the Loire Valley. It represents
a type of transitional architecture between Gothic and Renaissance.
Chenonceaux spans the Cher River in magnificent grandeur.
This is the Château that was designed, and added to, by several women.
It has come to be known as ‘The Castle Designed, Built, and Added To by
the Women of Chenonceaux’. The several women, during the course of some
400 years, were: Catherine Briconnet, Diane de Potiers, and
Catherine de Medici, among others.
Chenonceaux however had quite a racy history! Thomas Bohier, a finance
minister of Normandy, originally built the château in 1521. He was a
tax collector under
Charles VII,
Louis XII and
François I. Bohier had originally bought the Chenenceau estate that
consisted of a manor and mill. Out of a property dispute, with an
heiress to Chenonceaux, Bohier finally acquired all the adjoining
fiefs. Bohier then raised the old buildings with the exception of the
manor. Since he could not personally supervise the construction of his
new château, due to his duties with the army near Milan, his wife
Catherine Briconnet, took charge and creatively designed and oversaw the
château’s construction.
The Bohiers only enjoyed the château a few years before their deaths.
Their son, Antoine, ceded the château to François I in payment of his
father’s large debt to the Treasury. François I used it as a hunting
lodge.
François I bequeathed Chenonceaux to his successor,
Henri II, who in turn gave it to his mistress Diane de Poitiers (his
senior by some 20 years). Diane turned Chenonceaux into a profitable
estate through development of its agriculture, the sale of its wine and
its tax income. Diane also had the bridge constructed that spans the
Cher, and generally enlarged the château. When
Henri II was killed in a tournament, in 1599, his wife
Catherine de Medici, forced Diane to exchange Chenonceaux for
Chaumont. Catherine then added the two-story bridge gallery, where
magnificent galas were held, and a park that she created because of her
love for the arts.
The saga of the women of Chenonceaux continued on; check your history
books for more details! The château is now the property of
the French Nation.
This is considered the most favorite of the Loire
Chateaux, you can visit this beautful castle on one of our
tours to Chenonceaux.
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Cheverny
Cheverny [photos] is located in a clearing in the Sologne Forest in
the region of
Centre, département of
Loire-et-Cher. Its design is supposedly a to be a reproduction of a
Luxembourg Castle in the true French style favored by both
Henri IV and
Louis XIII.
Cheverny’s construction, by Count Hurault de Cheverny, began in 1604 and
was completed in 1634. The château, and its beautiful furnishings, is
still owned by Count Hurault’s descendents.
Tours to Cheverny
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Usse
A 15th-century château built near the Indre
River near its joining with the Loire River. It is said to be the
'Sleeping Beauty Castle'.
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Villandry
The Château de
Villandry [photos] is located along the Cher River, southwest of
Tours, in the region of
Centre, département of
Indre-et-Loire. It was built in 1532 by Jean Le Breton, secretary
of state for François I, and was known as a beautiful Renaissance
Château (only the keep remains). It is renowned for its marvelous
gardens, which were restored in the 20th century, and are considered to
be one of the most highly acclaimed in France. Even the potager
[vegetable garden] is laid out in a formal, decorative manner. Be sure
to make Villandry one of your stops!
The Châteaux of Île-de-France
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Chantilly
The château de Chantilly is located in the
ancient town of Chantilly, Oise département, Picardie region, some 23
miles [37 km] north of Paris. The town derives it name from a
Gallo-Roman, by the name of Cantilius, who built the first villa there.
It was once noted for Chantilly lace; today, it is principally noted for
the château, as a resort, for horse breeding and for its famous
racetrack. The town of Chantilly was previously known for its porcelain
and silk lace.
Le Nôtre, the designer of the world famous French gardens at Versailles
and Fontainebleau, also designed Chantilly's garden.
The château was built in the 14th-century on a small rocky island in an
artificial lake. In 1886, the château, together with the Musée Condé and
the surrounding park, was left to the Institut de France by the Duc
d'Aumale.
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Fontainebleau
The town of Fontainebleau is located in north
central France, in the Seine-et-Marne département, in the region of
Île-de-France just southeast of Paris. The town, which is situated near
the Seine River, is best known for the château de Fontainebleau
[photos], a Renaissance château surrounded by a large forest, landscaped
grounds and huge formal gardens.
The château was originally built in the 13th-century, but was
reconstructed and decorated, in the Renaissance style, by François I.
He assembled a large number of well-known Italian and French artists, at
Fontainebleau [known as the School of Fontainebleau], to carry out the
works. Other French rulers also dispensed considerable wealth in
further beautifying the château. Among them were Henry IV [who doubled
it size and improved the gardens], Louis XIII [who installed the great
double staircase], Louis XIV [who employed André Le Nôtre to enhance the
gardens], Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, Louis Philippe and Napoleon III.
The château's galleries of François I and Henri II illustrate the
increasing elaboration of the French Renaissance style, as influenced by
Italian design, with increasing elaboration of applied decoration and
color. By contrast, Marie-Antoinette's rooms exemplify a more sober
style of straight lines, subdued coloring and simple ornamentation that
is referred to as Neoclassicism.
During the French Revolution, 1789 - 1799, the château was ransacked.
It was restored by Napoleon who favored it over Versailles. He had the
King's bedroom converted into a Throne Room. King Louis Philippe did
additional interior restorations in the mid-1800s.
The history of Fontainebleau would not be complete without
mentioning that it was the venues for the signing of the revocation of
the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, and of Napoleon I's signing of his decree
of abdication, in 1814. During the Second World War, the Germans used
the château as their headquarters. After the war, the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization [NATO] used it until 1965. It is now a public
museum.
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Tuileries
In 1564, Catherine de Médicis began
construction of this royal palace along the Seine River in Paris,
adjoining the Louvre. 74 acres [30 hectors], that were adjacent to the
palace, were converted into gardens. It was here that Louis XVI and
Marie Antoinette were held prior to their removal to prison and
ultimately the guillotine. It was virtually destroyed during the period
of the Paris Commune in 1871. However, the Jardin des Tuileries is
still intact as a public park.
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Vaux-le-Vicomté
The château, which was designed in 1656 by the
architect Louis Le Vau, is located near Melun, France, southeast of
Paris. It was designed for Nicolas Fouquet and was completed, in the
French Baroque residential style in 1661. André Le Nôtre, who
formulated French neoclassicism, designed the château's French gardens.
These gardens, predicated upon highly formal arrangements, became the
prototype of the gardens he would later design for Louis XIV at
Versailles. They were designed around canals, fountains, statues and
ornamental urns. Great expanses of clipped trees and geometric flower
terraces, that seemed to stretch for miles, were used.
On August 17, 1661, Nicolas Fouquet, the French superintendent of
finance, hosted a large party in honor of Louis XIV at his newly
completed château of Vaux-le-Vicomté. When the
Sun King encountered the luxurious splendor of Vaux-le-Vicomté, he was
outraged that one of his ministers could have more palatial digs than
he. He had Fouquet thrown into the local Bastille and then set about to
hire those responsible for the design and building of this marvelous
château to design and build an even bigger, more elaborate palace for
him at Versailles.
Tours to Vaux-le-Vicomté
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Versailles
The Palace of Versailles, the largest palace
in France, is one of France's national monuments. It is the capital of
Yvelines département, located about 13 miles [21 km] southwest of
Paris. It is part of the French national heritage and one of the most
visited historic sites in Europe.
In 1624, Louis XIII had a hunting lodge built at Versailles. The Sun
King, Louis XIV, still smarting from the jolt he received at Fouquet's
get-together, hired Louis Le Vau as architect, Charles Le Brun, the
painter and decorator and André Le Nôtre, the landscape architect; all
having become famous from the building of Vaux-le-Vicomté.
Some 37,000 acres [15,000 hectares] of land were converted into
tree-lined terraces and walks and thousands of flowering plants. A
Grand Canal was excavated some 1,737 yards [1,588m] long and 67 yards
[61m] wide and 1,400 fountains and 400 pieces of new sculpture were
constructed. The old hunting lodge was renovated, giving it the
appearance of a small palace. The 1669 beginning of the palace was
fairly humble. In 1676, another architect, Jules Hardouin-Mansart
enlarged upon Vau's plans, adding a second story, the magnificent 240
foot [73 m] Hall of Mirrors, with painted ceilings done by Le Brun and
his assistants, and the North and south wings. The Treaty of
Versailles, which ended World War I, was signed in the Hall of Mirrors.
Over the next century, more than 36,000 workers were employed on the
project which, when completed, could accommodate up to 5,000 people.
Throughout the reign of Louis XV, the work that had begun by his
predecessor was continued, making the palace a symbol of royal
extravagances. The first episodes of the French Revolution took place
here. In 1837, Louis-Philippe restored the palace, converting it into a
museum consecrated to "all the glories of France". Today, it is
entirely surrounded by the city of Versailles, which did not come into
being until the construction of the palace.
The palace at Versailles became the envy of all of Europe's rulers;
three of the most grandiose of the imitations are the Herrenchiemsee in
Bavaria, the Schonbrunn in Vienna and the Winter Palace in St.
Petersburg.
In 1870, the German army used the palace as its headquarters during the
siege of Paris. The next year, the German emperor was crowned there.
Subsequently, the palace was used as the seat of the French Parliament
until 1879. In 1875, the Third Republic's constitution was proclaimed
there. It was at Versailles, that the presidents of both the Third and
Fourth Republics were elected.
Featured Castles with rooms for rent, or the castle itself!
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