France is the country with the most castles in the world, with over 45,000 in all.
France has an exceptional heritage, unique in the world for its diversity: you’ll find castles of all styles and periods.
Originally, castles were built to defend territory and material goods.
They were used to store, preserve and protect crops, coins, manuscripts, tapestries, treasures and many other common values.
Certain common values are goods that cannot be appropriated or privately owned: no one can appropriate them, nor transfer them.
It is on this legal basis that the property of the Crown’s domain has been declared inalienable since an ordinance issued by King Philip V, then repeated during the coronation ceremonies (the King’s oath to France), then repeated by the Edict of Moulins of February 1566, then repeated in the texts of the French Republic*.
* Article L. 3111-1 of the Code général de la propriété des personnes publiques (French General Code of Public Ownership): “The assets of the public bodies mentioned in Article L.1, which are part of the public domain, are inalienable and imprescriptible.”
In France, castles were originally conceived and designed as tools for conserving and defending the common property of a population.
These castles were not private property, but buildings authorized by the regal power.
Even if the fortifications – thick walls, barbicans, towers and keeps, perimeter walls, ditches, drawbridges, hoardings and parapets with their battlements and merlons – might suggest otherwise, castles are eminently open to the people they protect and serve.
In this mission to protect property and territories, they competed with other civil or religious edifices: abbeys, bastides, towns, cities, citadels, manor houses, fortified farms, all of which sheltered, preserved, shared and exchanged common wealth.
With the development of new techniques for protecting, distributing and disseminating common wealth came the blossoming of the flower of freedom’s evil: private property.
Little by little, castles lost their original vocation, becoming closed or even turned away from the populations they served.
The State, regions, départements, towns and villages, associations and a few families are all doing their bit to preserve France’s châteaux.
Here are just a few examples of how “private” châteaux have been successfully opened to the public: Chenonceau, Cheverny, Amboise, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Breteuil.
Chateaux-France offers you the chance to discover these places, “privately owned” or “publicly owned”, they are all jointly owned.
How do you feel to be a princess? was one of the very first messages received and forwarded by Chateaux-France.
In 1995, just a few days after the launch of the site, a young Internet user in California asked the Princesse de M.
this ingenuous question. The precious message was delivered to the addressee, who had no Internet connection, no fax and even less e-mail.
It was therefore by post that the message reached the Princesse de M.
. The latter then replied to her little Internet Princess, via Chateaux-France.
An exceptional relationship between a French grandmother and a young Californian princess was born!
Direct contact between “owners” and their public has remained in the genes of Chateaux-France: favoring “one to one” contact with tools honed in compliance with the RGPD.
As we’ve already seen, the ownership of castles and palaces is a matter of public record: they don’t belong to an individual or even a family.
Castles are the common property of a people: inalienable, non-assignable, non-transferable. They are simply marked by the residence, the stay, the passage of a person particularly enlightened by history.
But then, what is a king’s castle?
And then, what is a king’s château, in France?
Royal châteaux could be their birthplaces (Pau, Saint-Germain en Laye, Le Louvre, Versailles…), places of residence, assemblies or councils (where they regularly or occasionally held their seat, in Cabinet, or Lit, in Chambre), places of passage, exile, confinement and disappearance…
In France, kings first bore the title of King of the Franks, then King of France, and finally King of the French.
The evolution of these titles reflects the importance of the territory over which our kings lived and ruled. And this territory has constantly evolved. If we follow the rule of the royal jurists, who largely contributed to the construction of the concept of France, we retain the original territory conquered by the invading Franks, and that of West Francia, which followed the Carolingian partition.
The Palais Royal d’Attigny, acquired by Clovis II in 651, was one of the very first places of residence and seat of kings. From 749, it became the residence of the Mayor of the Palace, Pepin le Bref, who became King of the Franks in 751.
In addition to Pepin le Bref, several other Carolingian kings and emperors were recorded here: Carloman I, Charlemagne, Louis le Pieux, Charles II le Chauve, Louis III, Carloman II, Charles III le Gros, Charles III le Simple, and Raoul. Charles the Bald made the most frequent visits: 23. Charlemagne stayed here 4 times, including two Christmas holidays.
This palace is located close to the Reims-Trier Roman road and was of practical interest to the kings of the Franks: it was a stopover between the east and west of the Frankish kingdom, and then between the kingdoms of West Francia and Lotharingia. It was also a meeting place for rulers from these different regions: Several assemblies, colloquia and councils were held here.
The Attigny palace ceased to be frequented by the kings of the Franks after 931, and nothing remains of it today.
The present building, known as “Charlemagne’s palace”, built on its ruins, dates from the Renaissance. Henri IV probably stayed here during his two visits to Attigny, in October 1591 and October 1592.
The castle watched over the bridge over the Oise on the road from Paris to Rouen.
The name “Pontoise” reveals the importance the Franks gave to bridges in their confrontation with the Vikings.
These same Vikings, having invaded and settled in Normandy, led raids into Frankish territory. They systematically moved their troops in boats called “karv”, “snekkja” or “dreki”, up the rivers.
Their strategy was essentially based on rapid “commercial” movements: Plundering a territory. Then, demanding tribute to leave it.
In 885, the Norman Vikings, mounted on 700 boats, entered the Oise, besieged and took the town, then withdrew.
In response, the inhabitants settled on Mont Bélien, which was easy to defend. Pontoise became a permanent settlement. A castle was built there by the Counts of Vexin.
Later, the Oise River was crossed by a new fortified bridge built around 1070, which blocked the way to unwelcome fleets. The town was surrounded by a wall, the bridge over the Oise, rebuilt in stone, was fortified and the powerful royal castle, dominating the town and the Oise, was itself rebuilt between 1103 and 1122.
It was here that Louis VI “le Gros” (1081-1137) victoriously defended the French Vexin against the many assaults of the Duke of Normandy, King of England.
Louis VI was a reforming king, who encouraged communal movements and professional, social and religious associations. As early as 1110, he granted the inhabitants of Pontoise tax benefits and the right to manage their own affairs under the direction of a mayor.
From the time of Louis VI onwards, the Château de Pontoise became a favorite residence of the Capetians, notably Philippe Auguste and Saint Louis.
Louis XIV took refuge in the Château de Pontoise during the Fronde, and brought the Parliament there in 1652.
The château was later abandoned and dismantled in the 17th century. Only elevated remains remain, overlooking the river Oise.
Poissy was a royal residence as early as the 5th century. In 862, 864 and 868, Charles II the Bald held meetings of dignitaries here. From 996 to 1031, Robert II the Pious established it as a royal residence and built the church of Notre-Dame. His second wife, Berthe de Bourgogne, built a women’s monastery.
Under the Capetians, Poissy had two châteaux. The first, Château vieux, next to the collegiate church, dates back to an ancient Merovingian hunting lodge. The second is the Château neuf, probably built by Constance d’Arles, third wife of King Robert II the Pious, on the site of the abbey enclosure and adjacent to the Château vieux, probably on the site of the abbey church’s high altar.
In 1188, Philippe-Auguste endowed the town with communal institutions, in exchange for the burghers taking charge of the town’s fortifications and ost service.
In 1200, he entrusted the castle to his son Louis VIII le Lion as an apanage on the occasion of his marriage to Blanche de Castille.
In 1221, Philippe-Auguste granted the town a commune charter, confirming its ability to administer itself freely. This makes Poissy one of the oldest communes in France.
Under his reign, the town was surrounded by ramparts, the remains of which were still visible in the 19th century. It was also around 1200 that the commune of Poissy had the stone bridge built, replacing a wooden bridge that stood until 1944.
Louis IX was born in 1214 at the Château de Poissy. He was baptized in the parish church of Notre-Dame, and later signed his private letters “Louis de Poissy” or “Louis, seigneur de Poissy” in memory of his baptism.
In 1245, Philippe III, le Hardi, son of Louis IX and Marguerite de Provence, was born in Poissy. He reigned from 1270 to 1285.
In 1297, following the canonization of Louis IX, King Philippe le Bel decided to found the Dominican Abbey of Poissy, in honor of his grandfather, Saint Louis. In 1303, construction of the priory began on the site of the Château neuf, which was razed to the ground.
During the Hundred Years’ War, on August 16, 1346, Edward III, King of England, plundered and burned the town after landing in Normandy and devastating the Seine valley, Vexin and Beauvaisis, crossing the Somme and defeating Philip VI of Valois at Crécy before taking Calais.
In 1369, King Charles V the Wise had what remained of the Château de Poissy, burned on August 16, 1346 by the Black Prince, son of the King of England, destroyed.
At the forefront of the castles of the kings of the Franks stood the Palais de la Cité in Paris, on the site now occupied by “36 quai des orfèvres”, the Place Dauphine, the conciergerie, the Sainte Chapelle and the Paris Court of Appeal.
01 – 3D representation of the Palais de la Cité and its surroundings in Paris, towards the end of the 16th century (Films à Cinq).
This is the oldest royal residence in Paris.
In Roman times, Paris (Lutetia) was an important administrative and military city. It replaced an ancient Celtic city on the heights of present-day Nanterre.
A defensive wall was erected on the Île de la Cité, sheltering the residence, pallatium, of the Roman emperors Julian II (331-363) and Valentinian I (321-375), then of the Merovingian kings – from Clovis I (466-511), then Dagobert I (605-639).
During the Carolingian era, kings did not stay in Paris. And it was during the siege of the city (885-887) that Paris came to play a key role, thanks to its strategic position: at the center of West Francia, the city blocked the way against Viking raids aimed at rich Burgundy.
Eudes, Count of Paris, future King of France and founder of the Robertian dynasty, set about defending Paris, then consolidating the ramparts damaged by 3 years of war, siege and pillage (between November 24, 885 and January 887).
Eudes lived in the besieged Palais de la Cité between late November 885 and late May 886, returning in September 886, accompanied by Emperor Charles the Fat, and forcing the Viking troops to leave the city they had partially occupied.
Hugues Capet (939-996) and his son Robert II le Pieux (972-1031) then set about turning it into a royal residence.
Philip II Augustus (1165-1223) extended and embellished the Palais, making it the most important palace in the Christian West.
He installed the royal archives (reconstituted and deposited in the Palais, which became the center of royal administration).
At the same time, he built the Louvre fortress, a bastion of Paris’ new fortifications.
Successive kings continued to expand the Palais de la Cité:
Louis IX (Saint Louis, 1214-1270) had the Sainte-Chapelle built to house the relics of Christ’s Passion, as well as the Trésor des Chartes building adjoining the Sainte-Chapelle, which housed the royal archives.
Louis IX lived mainly in three castles:
Philippe IV le Bel (1268-1314) enlarged the Palais to house the kingdom’s administrative institutions:
– the Salle des Gardes
– the Salle des Gens d’armes du palais,
– The “Grand’Salle”, to the north, replaced and doubled the original surface area of the Salle du Roi. Its size and decoration make it the most remarkable royal hall in medieval Europe.
02 – Representation of the Grand’Salle by Sébastien Charles Giraud, Oil on canvas – 1878 (Coll. Palais de Justice de Paris)
He erected buildings designed for the new institutions:
– The Chambre des Comptes, to the west of the Sainte-Chapelle.
– The “Grand’ Chambre”, built between 1302 and 1305 above the Salle des Gardes, now part of the Conciergerie, became the seat of the Parlement de Paris in 1314, the highest court in the kingdom responsible for registering royal decrees.
– The Argent and César towers along the Quai l’Horloge housed the royal administration. The Argent and César towers along the Quai de l’horloge housed the royal administration.
Finally, the square kitchen pavilion was built under Jean II le Bon (1319-1364).
At the time, the Palais de la Cité was the finest, largest and most sumptuous palace in Europe.
03 – Illumination of the Très Riches heures du Duc de Berry – Limbourg brothers (Herman, Paul and Jean) 1412-1416. Coll. Château de Chantilly.
Charles V (1338-1380), who preferred the Louvre and Vincennes, put an end to four centuries of royal residence in the Palais.
Having become an occasional residence, entrusted to a concierge, the Palais de la Cité was henceforth called the “Conciergerie”, and part of the buildings was transformed into a prison.
Between 1793 and 1795, the Palais hosted the major trials of the Revolutionary Court, before being transformed into a courthouse in the 19th century.
As the western fortress of Paris’s new city walls, the Louvre’s first mission was military: the King ordered its construction in order to secure the city.
The Louvre, palace of residence :
It became a royal residence with
The Louvre, palace of government :
On October 22, 1652, Louis XIV held a Lit de Justice at the Palais du Louvre, in which the King forbade Parliaments to meddle in affairs of state or finance without having been invited.
From his office window, Louvois, Louis XIV’s minister, enjoyed watching the courtyard of the Palais.
The Louvre, palace of culture :
Charles V installed the Royal Library in the Falconry Tower, a space organized for the dissemination of knowledge and open to the public. The Louvre’s cultural vocation was born.
King Louis XIV decided to place the palace’s sculpture and painting collections there, and to welcome artists in residence, thus confirming the palace’s cultural vocation.
The Louvre and its Grand Dessein :
With his Grand Dessein, Henri IV gave the Louvre a new dimension by planning to combine the Palais des Tuilleries (built by order of Catherine de Médicis) and the Château du Louvre.
Henri IV’s Grand Dessein project took years to complete, and was never finished: the Palais Royal des Tuileries was burnt down by Communards Dardelle, Bergeret, Bénot, Boudin and Madeuf in 1871.
In 1162, Louis VII walled off part of the wood, and later built a hunting lodge. In the 13th century, Philippe Auguste and Louis IX (Saint Louis) had a manor house built.
Louis IX made regular visits here with his wife, Marguerite de Provence, and their children, and held his Council meetings, managing the Kingdom’s administrative and legal affairs.
In 632, Dagobert I hunted in the Retz forest. The kings who succeeded him built a residence here.
A new history of the château began with François d’Angoulême, the future François I, who received the duchy of Valois from his cousin Louis XII, at the heart of which lies Villers-Cotterêts. In 1528, François, now King of France, launched a series of construction projects, from the Louvre, which he enlarged, to the château at Fontainebleau, which he built.
And, to indulge his passion for hunting, he built a royal palace in the middle of the Retz forest, the largest in France at the time.
In 1539, François I signed an ordinance, still in force today, harmonizing the French language in administrative and legal documents.
While the château is the seat of the country’s economic and political activity during the kings’ sojourns, it is also the scene of impressive festivities. Mon Plaisir is the nickname François I gave to the château de Villers-Cotterêts,
what the popular saying has taken up: having fun like in Villers-Cotterêts.
Under Napoleon I, the château became a begging depot, housing (by force) indigent men and women. Between 1889 and 2014, it was transformed into a retirement home… Then abandoned.
08 – Aerial view of Villers-Cotterêts castle
Under the impetus of President Emmanuel Macron, the château has been restored and given a new mission, in keeping with its origins, to become the Cité internationale de la langue française.
09 – 3D reconstruction of the Château de Boulogne, known as the Château de Madrid (Hervé Grégoire)
Construction of Madrid Castle began in 1528 on the orders of France’s Francis I, who had returned from captivity.
Destined for demolition on the orders of Louis XVI, Château de Boulogne, also known as Château de Madrid, disappeared for good at the beginning of the 20th century.
Situated on the edge of the Bois-de-Boulogne, its 700-meter-long gardens run northwards along the edge of the wood.
A masterpiece of the French Renaissance, around which the architects Philibert Delorme (1548), Le Primatice (1559) and then della Robbia set about creating an innovative palace decorated with glazed and colored tiles, veritable French-style azuleros.
Intended by Francis I to be his Château de Boulogne, it was soon referred to at court as the Château de Madrid (following the battle of Pavia, the King was held captive in Madrid by Charles V).
The château then became one of the preferred Parisian residences of Charles IX and Catherine de Médicis, particularly during the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacres (summer 1572). Abandoned by Henri III, it was occupied by Marguerite de Valois in August 1605. Louis XIII visited in 1610.
10 – 3D reconstruction of the Château de Boulogne, known as the Château de Madrid (Hervé Grégoire)
The downgrading of this royal residence began with Louis XIV, who established France’s first silk stocking factory here.
By letters patent in 1656, the King promised a monopoly on this activity, established in the château that had become a stocking factory.
Las!
While the super-rich like to wear silk stockings, they don’t like wool stockings, and the public purse was hard pressed to find any.
The business fizzled out, and the promise of a monopoly was stifled by competition from silk manufacturers in Lyon, Nîmes (who redirected their production to blue-dyed cotton fabrics: bleu de Nimes, originally known as blue de Nîmes, then commonly as : Blue Jeans*), Orange, Montauban and Chambéry.
In 1787, Louis XVI ordered its sale. Acquired by demolishers, who paid for it in assignats, the dilapidated and ruined castle nevertheless survived for another 200 years, converted into apartments, then into a clinic, briefly converted into a stud farm, and transformed into a restaurant under Napoleon III. What remained of Château de Madrid was finally destroyed in 1909.
* Michel Pastoureau: Bleu, histoire d’une couleur Ed. Seuil
The Château de Fontainebleau, a royal and imperial palace, has played host to 36 successive French sovereigns.
It is the only palace to have been visited by all the sovereigns, kings and emperors, over more than 8 centuries.
With 1,500 rooms, Fontainebleau is one of the largest châteaux in France, and the most furnished in Europe.
In the Middle Ages, then in the Renaissance, from François 1er and Henri II in the 16th century to Emperor Napoléon III in the 19th century, via Henri IV, Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI, Louis-Philippe 1er and above all Napoléon 1er, all its residents left traces of their time at the château, gradually shaping Fontainebleau’s originality: eclectic, evolving architecture with no unity of style.
Fontainebleau reflects the history of the monarchs who have lived here, and more broadly, the history of France.
Louis VII the Younger was the first French king to visit Fontainebleau, in 1137. At the time, Fontainebleau was a medieval château, whose shape followed the outline of today’s Cour Ovale. The square keep, long the home of the kings, and the Chapelle Saint-Saturnin, rebuilt by François 1er, still stand.
Even then, it was known as the Palais de Fontainebleau.
Today, the Palais Royal et Impérial de Fontainebleau boasts a number of masterpieces:
– from the Renaissance, commissioned by François I,
– the great works of Henri IV,
– the refined interiors of Marie-Antoinette,
– the ceremonial apartment of Napoleon I,
– the splendor of Napoleon III. 
Set in a 130-hectare park, the château’s architecture unfolds around four main courtyards, in the heart of three historic gardens. The Grand Parterre, the largest in Europe (11 hectares), is the work of André Le Nôtre.
For over a thousand years, the Château Royal de Blois has been home to the Counts of Blois, the Dukes of Orléans and then the Kings of France, all of whom have left their mark and linked the château to the history of France and Europe.
In the 9th century, a fortress was built on the promontory overlooking the town of Blois and the Loire, and a count’s palace was incorporated.
A century later, the Counts of Blois erected a tower and new buildings, which were regularly extended. Of these medieval constructions, the Château Royal de Blois retains some 13th-century buildings: the grand seigneurial hall, part of the rampart and three towers that were incorporated into the François I wing, and the Tour du Foix.
From 1498, Louis XII transformed the fortress into an urban palace. A new royal dwelling was built. On the courtyard side, the building features an open gallery alternating pillars and columns, leading to two stair towers serving the upper floors. On the square side, the long brick façade houses the king’s equestrian statue.
In 1515, on his accession to the throne, François I undertook the first building project of his reign, constructing a building in Blois inspired by the Italian Renaissance. On the courtyard side, the majestic facade houses the François I staircase, whose massive buttresses contrast with the lightness of the windows. The exterior facade, made up of loggias which, at the time, provided a view of the gardens.
In 1634, Gaston d’Orléans, brother of King Louis XIII, then without an heir, decided to build an entirely new château in Blois. He commissioned the architect François Mansart to build a main building at the back of the courtyard, the first stage in a vast and ambitious reconstruction project involving the entire Château Royal de Blois.
But the project was halted in 1638. The birth of the King’s son removed Gaston from the throne, and the dwelling remained unfinished.
The prehistoric site of Amboise has been inhabited for several millennia. In Roman times, a walled town was established.
The town suffered from Viking raids, and the Frankish kings entrusted its defense to the Lords of Amboise.
the Château Royal d’Amboise was first home to the Lords of Amboise, then to the Kings of France.
The Lords of Amboise are credited with successfully fortifying the site and the town between the 9th and 10th centuries. At the time, Amboise was considered the best-protected fortress in western France.
In 1431, Louis d’Amboise took part in a plot against Georges I de La Trémoille, a favorite of Charles VII. Unmasked, he was condemned to death and his château was confiscated, becoming part of the Royal Estate.
In 1433, Charles VII’s son, the Dauphin Louis (future Louis XI), was educated at the château de Loches; he could take refuge in Amboise if threatened by Burgundian allies, during the civil war between Armagnacs and Burgundians.
On October 7, 1461, Louis XI came to greet his mother, Marie d’Anjou, after her coronation in Reims.
Louis XI then had his own son (the future Charles VIII) raised here. Born in the château in 1470, the dauphin Charles appreciated Amboise and made it his favorite residence.
Between 1492 and 1498, Charles VIII had the following built here:
– the Saint-Hubert chapel,
– the wing, now called Charles VIII, in the flamboyant Gothic style, which includes the King’s and Queen’s lodgings,
– the two cavalier towers (Tour des Minimes and Tour Heurtault),
– a park was laid out on the terrace; later, a bust by Leonardo da Vinci and a Muslim memorial (for the companions of Abd El Kader who died in Amboise during his captivity) were installed here.
Louis XII (1498-1515), his cousin and successor, built a second wing, perpendicular to the Charles VIII wing, in the Renaissance style. He ceded the estate to Louise de Savoie, who raised her two children there, Marguerite and François (the future François I).
François I (1515-1547) and his Court were still resident at the Château Royal in 1518. However, these stays gradually became less frequent. Although construction continued, with the completion of the Heurtault Tower and the refurbishment of the Louis XII wing, François I preferred Villers-Cotterêts, Chambord, Blois or Fontainebleau.
Nevertheless, he invited Leonardo da Vinci to stay at Amboise’s Clos Lucé, next door to the château. Leonardo da Vinci died in Amboise in 1519 and was buried in the collegiate church of Saint-Florentin, demolished in 1810 by the 3rd Consul of France, Roger Ducos.
Henri II (1547-1559) further extended the château, ordering the construction of new buildings on the eastern side.
Under Louis XIII, the château was transformed into a luxury prison for leading figures of the state: César de Bourbon, Duc de Vendôme, and his brother Alexandre de Vendôme, were interned here for their part in the Chalais Conspiracy against Cardinal de Richelieu in 1626.
The château then passed to Gaston de France, Duc d’Orléans, brother of Louis XIII.
Louis XIV (1643-1715) confiscated it and restored its role as a prison: Amboise thus welcomed Nicolas Fouquet and Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Duc de Lauzun.
The Duc de Choiseul acquired it in the 18th century, then abandoned it around 1760 in favor of Chanteloup.
After his death, the Amboise and Chanteloup estates were purchased by Louis-Jean-Marie de Bourbon (1725-1793), Duke of Penthièvre. On his death, it became a national estate.
A large part of the château was demolished under the First Empire, when Napoleon I offered the château, already in a poor state of repair, to ex-consul Roger Ducos, who set about destroying two-thirds of it (including the collegiate church of Saint-Florentin and the logis des reines) between 1806 and 1810.
The Château d’Amboise was to welcome one last prisoner: Emir Abd El Kader, who resided there with his retinue and companions.
In 1873, the château passed to the d’Orléans family. Henri d’Orléans, Duc d’Aumale, transformed it into a home for the elderly.
Today, the Fondation Saint-Louis, established by the Comte de Paris in 1974, is in charge of the Château d’Amboise.
Château de Chambord is the most famous of the castles and palaces built during the Renaissance.
It is a full-fledged member of the Loire Valley castles.
The name Chambord comes from the Celtic-Gauloise language, which combines two words: cambo-rito – meaning passage over a meander; i.e. a ford in the curve of a river.
This ford created a marsh over which a bridge was built, mentioned as early as 1307 in the will of Count Hugues II de Blois.
Straight out of the marshlands of Sologne, Château de Chambord tells the story of a palace conceived as a symbol.
A fortified castle dates back to the 10th century. Located 6.7 km northwest of Montfrault, it was intended for the Counts of Blois, who lived there until the 14th century.
In 1397, Château de Chambord passed to the House of Châtillon, then to the House of the Dukes of Orléans, along with all the possessions of the Counts of Blois. During this period, the château was used as a pleasure and hunting lodge.
It then became part of the French crown, when Louis d’Orléans became Louis XII of France in 1498.
From his campaigns in Italy, François Premier returned from the battlefield crowned with glory, but also amazed by the refinement of Renaissance Italy.
An avid hunter, François 1er wanted to build a palace in the game-filled lands of Sologne whose magnificence would be on a par with the finest buildings in Italy. Thus began the story of the Palais de Chambord in 1519. With its 400 rooms and hundreds of fireplaces, Chambord will go down in history as the castle that François 1er wanted, even though he only lived there for 72 days. Chambord is the story of the staging of royalty.
His project was to build a new town at Romorantin, based on Leonardo da Vinci’s plans, and a grand edifice in the Neoplatonist style at Chambord.
Leonardo da Vinci’s original plans for the Palace featured a wheel dominating the wild waters, which the King had tamed, diverted and channeled.
It is intended as an ideal palace.
Accompanied by a pleasure garden, set in the middle of a hunting park, it is also the largest of the Loire castles.
Château de Chambord is built on a marshy area.
One of the geniuses of its designers was to build a massive stone edifice on loose, unstable ground, by placing the Château de Chambord on stilts.
The construction methods used will go down in the history of architecture and engineering: the 220,000 tons of tufa stone rest on wooden stilts driven into the ground.
Work began with the demolition of the old fortified castle, the village church and the foundations of the square keep.
Interrupted between 1525 and 1526, due to the defeat at Pavia and the King’s imprisonment in Madrid by Charles V, construction resumed in 1526. The King modified his plans by adding two side wings to the original keep, one of which was to house his living quarters.
Extensively modified over the 28 years of its construction, from 1519 to 1547, the Château de Chambord was not fully completed when Francis I received his rival, Emperor Charles V, on December 18, 1539.
The château is organized around its magical double-revolution staircase, designed to dazzle visitors and bear witness to the power and genius of French royalty.
The Château de Chambord’s history has sheltered it from the great troubles of its time.
It has the idealized appearance of a medieval fortress, symbolically asserting the martial authority of King François 1er.
Nevertheless, it did not experience the medieval wars.
Attached to the French crown, Château de Chambord was inhabited by Charles IX, then abandoned for a century, before successively welcoming Louis XIII, Gaston d’Orléans and Louis XIV.
Louis XV established Stanislas Leszczyński, exiled king of Poland, and then donated it to the Maréchal de Saxe in 1745.
A series of private occupations of the château followed until the French Revolution: August von Friesen, nephew of the Marshal of Saxony until 1755, then the Marquis de Saumery until 1779, and finally the Marquis de Polignac, driven out by the Revolution in 1790.
Inhabitants of neighboring villages ransacked the estate and looted the château.
Napoleon I intended to use the château as a boarding school for the girls of the Legion of Honor, but his plan was never realized.
Purchased by national subscription in 1821, the Chambord estate was offered to Louis XVIII’s grand-nephew. It passed by succession to the Count of Chambord, Henri V, who lived there and restored it.
Purchased in 1930 by France from the descendant of the Comte de Chambord, the Domaine National de Chambord enjoys the special status of Domaine Présidentiel. The château and gardens are open to the public.
The enclosed wall that surrounds the entire estate, as well as the forest park, allow observation of the wildlife, which is very present in the 5,500-hectare park, now known as the Chasses Présidentielles.
Katherine, Diane, Catherine, two Louises, Marguerite, Simone…
First of all, the builder of Chenonceau: Katherine Briçonnet, whose husband, Thomas Bohier, was General of Finance for François I. While he was on the battlefield, she became the château’s architect, designing and supervising its construction. She made all the architectural decisions. The castle bears their initials: TBK (Thomas Bohier et Katherine), with the phrase: S’il vient à point, me souviendra.
Next came Diane de Poitiers, who had terraces and gardens laid out, as well as a bridge over which Catherine de Médicis designed the famous galleries.
Louise de Lorraine took refuge here on the death of her husband, King Henri III. She lived there for the 11 years of her mourning, immersing herself in meditation and prayer. Never recovering from the sudden loss of her beloved, she adopted a white wardrobe, earning her the nickname of the White Queen or the White Lady of Chenonceau. Indeed, unlike today, the color of royal mourning was white, a color that Queen Louise wore until her own death. At Chenonceau, her bedroom remains famous for being covered with funerary motifs, mourning symbols and dark fabrics.
Next came Louise Dupin, who had a small theater built at the southern end of the gallery on the second floor of the Château de Chenonceau. She was also a patron of the arts. A feminist, she advocated education for women, access to public employment and careers previously reserved exclusively for men. She wrote an unfinished work, La défense des femmes et l’égalité entre les sexes, between 1745 and 1750.
She died and is buried on the Chenonceau estate.
Marguerite Pelouze, a major figure in French political and artistic life at the end of the 19th century. In 1888, she went bankrupt and had to sell the Château de Chenonceau, which was bought by Crédit Foncier, then on April 5, 1913 by industrialist Henri Menier.
Simonne Menier, herself a nurse and wife of Georges Meunier, decided to devote two galleries of the château to the wounded of the Great War.
The wounded soldiers received care, food and modern medical equipment, all donated by the company. While Simonne herself managed the care team, her husband, Georges, was in charge of administration.
In all, 2,254 Poilus lived the life of a château at Chenonceau during the Great War.
The Palais du Luxembourg was built on the grounds of a 16th-century mansion belonging at the time to François de Piney, Duke of Luxembourg.
In 1612, the French regent Marie de Médicis, widow of Henri IV and mother of Louis XIII, returned to favor with her son and Cardinal de Richelieu, and purchased the Hôtel de Luxembourg and the estate. In 1615, she ordered the construction of a palace, after having had the houses and part of Petit Luxembourg razed to the ground.
In 1616, the Queen Mother took up residence on the second floor of the west wing, in the part of the Palais Médicis reserved for her, while the east wing was reserved for her son, King Louis XIII.
Marie de Médicis was forced to leave the Palais in 1631, exiled on her son’s orders following the “Day of the Dupes”.
She bequeathed the estate to her second son Gaston, Duke of Orléans, brother of Louis XIII.
The building was then called the “Palais d’Orléans”. It passed by succession to his widow, Marguerite de Lorraine, then to his eldest daughter, the Duchesse de Montpensier, who sold it to her younger sister, the Duchesse de Guise. In 1694, she donated it to her cousin, the King.
In 1715, the Palais du Luxembourg, also known as the Palais d’Orléans, reverted to the regent Philippe d’Orléans, who gave it to his eldest daughter, the Duchesse de Berry, who lived a life of feasting and pleasure there, dying in July 1719 at the Château de la Muette.
On October 14, 1750, the Royal Gallery of Painting in the Palais du Luxembourg was opened to the public.
Exhibiting a selection of the King’s paintings, it was the first art museum in France and foreshadowed the creation of the Musée du Louvre.
In an edict issued in December 1778, Louis XVI granted the estate and château to his brother Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, Count of Provence and future King Louis XVIII.
The Palais, confiscated during the French Revolution, was first used as a “Maison nationale de sûreté” prison, then as the residence of the Republic’s “directors”.
On November 15, 1799, Bonaparte, author of the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire, moved in. On December 28, 1799, he installed the Conservative Senate.
From then on, the parliamentary vocation of the Palais du Luxembourg was sealed.
There’s no sweet prison or wild love
Residence of Marguerite de Valois, first wife of Henri IV, King of France and Navarre, married to Henri while he was still King of Navarre and first pretender to the throne of France, remained sterile and Henri had her imprisoned at Cazeneuve.
Having seen some of the châteaux of the kings of France, we can now take a look at the French residences that have welcomed non-French sovereigns.
French, because they are located on what is now French territory:
Belonged to the sovereign Kingdom of Navarre.
Henri de Bourbon, son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre, was born here on December 13, 1553.
Henri first succeeded his mother to the throne of Navarre, then became King of France and Navarre, by Salic devolution (in force in France, but not in Navarre).
Three centuries later, Emir Abd El Kader was held captive there with his retinue, from April to November 1848
He said: ” These green plains, these orchards, these forests, these rivers; so much abundance! What need do the French have to occupy my country of sand and rock?
Palace of the Kings and Queens of Navarre
The Château de Nérac is a Royal Palace, built in the Louis XII style: a transition between Gothic art and the early Renaissance.
Completed during the reign of Jeanne d’Albret, who held her court and government there.
It is situated overlooking the River Baise.
The château was dismantled during the French Revolution.
The north wing is the only one to have been preserved of the four wings that delimited its square courtyard.
A seigneurial residence is mentioned in 1088. In the 12th century, the monks of Saint-Pierre de Condom Abbey took possession of the town and lordship of Nérac. To guard it, they chose Amanieu d’Albret, a defender of the abbey, as their solicitor.
The château was subsequently occupied by Amanieu VI d’Albret in 1259.
In 1306, the Albrets were finally recognized as lords of Nérac to the detriment of the monks.
Initially linked to the House of Armagnac, the House of Albret joined the kings of France following their defeat at the Battle of Launac in 1362.
Charles I was killed at the Battle of Azincourt. His son Charles II fought in Guyenne alongside Xaintrailles and Lahire against the English.
Jean d’Albret, through his marriage in 1484 to Catherine de Foix, Queen of Navarre, became King of Navarre de jure uxoris (by virtue of his wife’s right).
Devolution of the Kingdom of Navarre:
On the death of Sanche le Fort, the lords of Navarre refused to see the Kingdom of Navarre united with its powerful Aragonese neighbor, and appealed to Count Thibaut IV of Champagne, grandson through his mother Blanche de Navarre of King Sanche le Sage.
The kingdom of Navarre then passed to the House of Blois-Champagne, and in 1305, with the accession of Philip IV, King of Navarre de jure uxoris under the name of Philip I, it passed to the Capetians.
The throne of Navarre then passed to the Capetians of Evreux-Navarre from 1349, then to the Trastamares in 1441, then to the House of Foix in 1479, then to the House of Albret in 1484, and finally to the House of Bourbon in 1555.
Attached to the Kingdom of Catalonia, former March of the Carolingian Empire, not attached to Frankish territory or to the kings of the Franks.
Savoie was originally a Carolingian county attached to Charlemagne’s Empire, but not attached to Frankish territory or to the kings of the Franks.
In 1416, Emperor Sigismund granted the County of Savoy the title of Duchy. The Counts, then Dukes of Savoy set up their administration, audit office and apartments in Chambéry castle, and built the Chapel of the Holy Shroud.
They also established a palatial residence in Nice.
The Dukes of Savoy became sovereigns of Piedmont-Sardinia, and set up their capital in Turin.
It wasn’t until the territories of Savoy and Nice were attached to France in 1860 (an agreement negotiated between Napoleon III and Camillo Cavour, then ratified by the Chamber of Turin and approved by popular referendum) that the castles of Nice and Chambéry became French.
After the failure of his political project in Oranais and his defeat by the French army, the Emir left North Africa with his retinue, his smala, of 87 people, including his mother Zhora, his wife Khiva, his five concubines, his three legitimate and four illegitimate children, an uncle and three brothers.
They were initially interned for five years at the Fort Royal on the island of Sainte-Marguerite, in very harsh conditions. Several of the Smala’s children died in Sainte-Marguerite between 1843 and 1848.
On April 29, 1848, the French government transferred the Emir and his retinue to the Château Royal in Pau. They stayed there, under the guard of 20 soldiers, until
The former royal château in Pau was emptied of its furnishings for the occasion.
He will say:
An Arab in mourning does not leave his tent, and I am in the greatest mourning of my life, the mourning of my freedom!
The monotony of captivity is broken by visits from the notables and ladies of the town.
They all show him great sympathy and he, replying to a letter, gives a glimpse of the pain of his exile:
Madame, I’m a prisoner. You could overwhelm me with flowers, but their perfume wouldn’t reach me!
The Emir was happy to discuss philosophy, science and religion, notably with the Bishop of Algiers, Mgr Dupuch.
Emir Abd El-Kader and his retinue left Pau for the Château d’Amboise on November 2, 1848.
When I leave Pau, I’m leaving a piece of my heart,” he says.
When he leaves, he entrusts the little money he has:
I’m poor, but there are people in your town poorer than me. Please ask the venerable parish priest of Saint-Martin to distribute this offering in my name!
His jailers in Amboise, familiar with Arab customs, finally authorized the installation of mats, carpets and stoves in the château, as well as the introduction of a diet based on spices and fruit.
In December 1852, Emperor Napoleon III freed Emir Abd El-Kader and received him in Paris before he left for Damascus.
Very popular in France, Emir Abd El-Kader returned in 1865 and again in 1867, for the Universal Exhibition.
25 members of the Emir’s retinue died at the Château Royal d’Amboise.
A garden-cemetery was created there in 2005 by Algerian artist Rachi Koraïchi: a place for meditation, featuring 25 Aleppo stone steles, marked with suras from the Koran and surmounted by a bronze sign, each bearing the name of a deceased person. Seven cypress trees, guardians of the link between earth and sky, and a large diagonal of rosemary trees, facing south-east, indicate the direction of Mecca.
The King’s dwelling.
Today’s Conciergerie de Paris corresponds to the part inhabited by the Capetian kings: the Logis du Roi.
Later, we would speak of the King’s apartments: the Grand Appartement, where he appeared publicly, and the private apartment, where he was supposed to live away from the public eye.
One might think that the King doesn’t govern in his private apartments…
While Louis XVI seems to have indulged in a few moments of tranquillity, his grandfather, Louis XV, held his Secret there: from where he governed France’s diplomatic and secret actions. In his private apartments, Louis XV receives the Comte de Broglie, who executes and advises on the King’s Secret.
Etiquette dictates that certain words lose their common meaning when it comes to kings.
The King’s Chamber, Bed and Cabinet are not what they seem.
The King’s Cabinet has little to do with latrines.
It’s where people meet to assist the King’s government, to arbitrate and decide.
A chamber of projects and advice, the King’s Chamber is not a place of dreams.
The King’s Bed is a Bed of Justice.
The King’s Bed can be compared to the divans* of the Sublime Porte and the Persian Empire.
*The words divan (Turkish) and diwan (Persian) refer to the entire administration of the Empire.
Called a coquille keep, it consists of an ovoid or circular enclosure encircling a small motte forming the inner courtyard, and buildings containing living quarters, kitchens, stables and outbuildings that surround this inner courtyard and back onto the ramparts. The enclosure has virtually no flanking towers, but at least one fortified gate defended by a drawbridge or removable bridge spanning a moat.
Between 1071 and 1099, shell-keeps were built in Normandy and England, based on the mottes castrales already in existence.
There are still a few examples in France today:
– In Normandy: Courcy (Calvados), Vatteville-la-Rue (Seine-Maritime), Avrilly (Eure), Argentan (Orne) or La Haye-du-Puits (Manche).
– On Plantagenet land.
– In Côte-d’Or (Antigny-le-Château), Vendée (La Roche-sur-Yon), Charente-Maritime (Pisany and Saint-Jean-d’Angle), Loire-Atlantique (Clermont-Ferrand) and Loire-Atlantique (Clermont-Ferrand). Côte-d’Or (Antigny-le-Château), Vendée (La Roche-sur-Yon), Charente-Maritime (Pisany and Saint-Jean-d’Angle), Loire-Atlantique (Clisson).
These dungeons are very different from the tall, narrow towers, with no inner courtyard, laid out on several levels and covered by a roof,
Of course, all French châteaux worthy of the title should be open to the public in one way or another.
Pierre Richard has owned Château Bel Évêque since 1986.
Michel Legrand and his wife Macha Meril have owned Domaine de la Motte, a small late 18th-century château near Montargis in the Loiret region, since 2006.
Gérard Vives has owned Château de la Vernée in Burgundy since 2013.
François Fillon and his wife Pénélope have owned the Manoir de Beaucé since 1984.
Catherine Deneuve owns Château de Primard
Josephine Baker has owned Château des Milandes since 1947.
Mohammed VI owns the Château de Betz, in the Oise region, which his father, King Hassan II, acquired in 1972.
Since 1896, thousands of films have used castles as actors, sets and locations. Chateaux-France offers a collaborative approach to filming at chateaux, presented by location and by film.
L’histoire d’un château revisits the country’s history, often from a human-sized perspective.
A history we can touch and feel.
A history whispered by the stones, which becomes more audible to us.
A history that’s clearer, because we can finally see it up close.
The châtelain is not. And not by a long shot!
This may sound strange, but in the language of the Middle Ages, the chatelain was a secondary figure in the castle, responsible for managing the castle and the surrounding territory. As a loyal servant of the castle and its estate, he collected the tax revenues and took care of the castle’s upkeep. He remains the most regular inhabitant of the castle, but is not the occupant of the dwelling.
The castle’s main actors are undoubtedly its “seigneurs*” or “dames”, who have been entrusted by regal power with the task of conserving and defending common property.
When you hold such a position, you are often absent from the dwelling…
* The word monsieur derives directly from seigneur.
It was first used in French in a ninth-century document, using two distorted Latin words: meos and sendra(Serments de Strasbourg, 842).
This new word, derived from the language of feudalism, marks an attachment, a possession in the feudal sense: sendra or senior designates the one on whom land or persons depend**, and meos or meus designates the possessive.
At the time, when we said monsieur, we meant to make a declaration that had far-reaching consequences: Je me rattache et je dépends de toi; Tu es celui de qui je dépends.
** This dependence is not understood as belonging, but as control over a thing or a person.
The Tour de Crest rises to a height of 52 meters.
Along with the 50-metre-high Vincennes dungeon, it is one of the tallest in Europe and the world.
The castle’s keep is often inhabited, but this is not an absolute rule: as the castle’s master tower, it is its last line of defense.
It’s not uncommon to see castles with dwellings, whose keeps serve to preserve property and defend the town.
When inhabited, the keep is inhabited by the lord.
The Tour de Crest rises to a height of 52 metres.
Along with the 50-metre-high donjon de Vincennes, it is one of the tallest castles in Europe and the world.
Rocca Calascio castle, in Italy’s Abruzzo region at an altitude of 1,460 meters, is the highest castle in the world. Construction began in the 10th century with the first observation tower. The surrounding wall with four cylindrical towers was added around the first tower in the 13th century.
It was the setting for Jean-Jacques Annaud’s film The Name of the Rose, starring Sean Connery, Christian Slater, Helmut Qualtinger, Elya Baskin, Michael Lonsdale, Volker Prechtel, Feodor Chaliapin Jr.
One of the smallest châteaux in France is located in Marnes: Château de Retournay. With a floor surface area of 11 m x 8.5 m (i.e. less than 100 m²) and a height of 15 m, it is the smallest château in France.
With a facade measuring 40 m and a width of 14 m, Château de Troussay is one of the smallest châteaux in the Loire Valley.
Castel Merlet was a castle located above the village of La Malène in the Tarn Gorge, Lozère. This completely ruined castle, whose foundations have now been found, is believed to be the oldest castle in France, dating back to the 6th century.
The Teutonic Fortress of Marienburg, in Polish: Zamek w Malborku,
Located in Poland, with an area of 143,591 m², Malbork Castle is the largest castle in the world. It was founded in 1274 by the Teutonic Knights, who used it as their headquarters to defeat and convert the Poles and Balts, and then rule over their northern Baltic territories.
In France, the Château de Fougères is considered to be the largest preserved fortress in France.
The world’s largest palace by surface area enclosed within its walls is the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, which covers an area of 728,000 m². The Forbidden City’s 980 buildings have a total surface area of 150,001 m² and contain 9,999 rooms (an ancient Chinese belief claimed that the god Yù Huáng lived in a palace with 10,000 rooms; out of respect, they limited themselves to a palace with 9,999 and a half rooms).
The world’s largest surviving residential palace is the Istana Nurul Iman in Brunei. Covering an area of 200,000 m², it has 1,788 rooms. The building also boasts 257 bathrooms, a banquet hall for 5,000 people, a garage for 110 cars, five swimming pools and an air-conditioned stable for up to 200 polo ponies.
By comparison, the Palace of Versailles has 2,300 rooms, spread over 63,154 m².
With 8,100,000 visitors a year, the Château de Versailles is without doubt the most visited château in the world.
A natural element, water ravines, erodes, wears and shapes.
An insatiable architect with impossible plans, water cannot be controlled. And cities, urban planning, concrete encasements, embankments, wave breakers, boulders and the like can do nothing against the force of water.
So how did we ever manage to think of perennial constructions such as thousand-year-old châteaux set on water?
With an exceptional view over the Loire, surrounded by moats or lakes, some châteaux literally have their feet in the water!
The moat at Château du Plessis-Bourré
Château du Plessis-Bourré, in Écuillé, appears to float on water.
In fact, it was built on a platform surrounded by a moat, itself fed by diverted underground springs.
Built in just five years in the 15th century by its patron, Jean Bourré, treasurer to Louis XI. It combines the characteristics of a fortress with Renaissance elegance.
A river at Château de Montsoreau
Montsoreau is the only Loire château built on the riverbed: a first fort was erected here over a thousand years ago.
Built in the 15th century on the model of Italian palaces.
A series of ponds and moats at Château de Serrant.
Château de Serrant
in Saint-Georges-sur-Loire has its feet in the moat. Its English-style park features three successive ponds.
Château de Chambord
is built on stilts in the middle of marshland. A canal was dug, the marshes drained, and moats were dug around a platform on which the Château de Chambord stands.
Water, so present on the original site (“chambord” in Gallic means fording a meander) is tamed.
Chambord is the palace of water, a symbol, intended by Francis I and idealized by Leonardo da Vinci, of royal power over this natural element.
Château d’Onzain,
Built at the end of the 14th century by the Lords of Neillac, the château was completely remodeled by the Duc de la Rochefoucault in the 16th century, before being completely destroyed by the Black Band between 1823 and 1826.
In its heyday, Onzain was a tall, L-shaped château, where François I stayed several times. All that remains is a small pavilion.
Château d’Azay-le-Rideau
Built on a small island in the Indre river during the reign of François I by Gilles Berthelot, the king’s financier, the Château d’Azay-le-Rideau combines French traditions with Italian decor.
Today, it is considered one of the jewels of early French Renaissance architecture.
Château de Villegongis
Rising above a moated platform, Villegongis is framed by two large round towers. The facades are built in the Italian Renaissance style, with highly elegant decorations. Completed around 1570, it was commissioned by Jacques de Brizay, a companion of François 1er.
Chenonceau can be considered a bridge castle, built over the Cher River.
Bourron castle
The site of Bourron has been constantly occupied since Neolithic times.
It was the Celts who gave the village its name, “Bourron” or, according to ancient spellings, Bouvron or Borro, which comes from Bovron, the Gallic deity of water. The Saint Sévère spring is still visible today, giving rise to the canal that feeds the moat of living water surrounding the château.
The château de la Roche-Saint-Priest on the Loire,
Built on the rocky outcrop of an islet, Château de la Roche becomes, depending on the mood of the river, sometimes a defensive rock, sometimes a romantic islet.
The Château d’Armainvilliers, located in Gretz-Armainvilliers in the Seine-et-Marne region, has been put up for sale for 425 million euros.
France is the country with the most castles in the world: there are more than 45,000 castles throughout the country.
If we add manor houses, seigniorial residences, bastides, fortified farms and mills, stud farms, gentilhommières and hôtels particuliers, there are 47,000 castles in France.
Château d’Armainvilliers, Gretz-Armainvilliers, Seine-et-Marne. Set in a 1,100-hectare estate, the château has a surface area of 9,000m2, a hundred rooms including 40 bedrooms, a hairdressing salon, three elevators, five lounges and a hammam.
The estate includes a hunting ground, 2 ponds, a forest, an organic farm, 36 outbuildings, a stud farm and numerous outbuildings,
Controversy arose between two keeps in the County of Anjou, which are still visible today, and which vie for glory: the keep at Montbazon, built between 996 and 1006, and the keep at Doué-la-Fontaine, built from 930 onwards.
Is this the Montbazon keep?
According to a charter drawn up by Robert II le Pieux between 996 and 1006, the first construction was ordered by Foulques Nerra, le Faucon Noir (Count of Anjou from 987 to 1040), to build a castellum on land belonging to the Saint-Paul de Cormery abbey, without prior authorization. A stone master tower measuring 20 by 15 metres was then built.
This first tower initially had two levels. Attributable to Foulques Nerra, before the stronghold was conquered by the House of Blois, which was opposed to the House of Anjou.
The tower was soon counter-balanced on the south side by a large quantity of earth, which protected the base of the tower. Geoffroy Martel, son of Foulques Nerra, having taken over the fortress from the Counts of Blois, partially destroyed the keep, raising it two storeys, repairing its base and building an eastern outwork.
Is this the Doué dungeon at the Château de Doué-la-Fontaine?
Originally known as the motte de la Chapelle, the site appears to have been developed in the Merovingian period, as attested by the presence of sarcophagi.
From the 8th to the 9th century, the Carolingian kings, then the kings of Aquitaine, had a residence in Doué, referred to as a villa or palatium. Prince Louis, King of Aquitaine, made it one of his favorite residences.
Around 900, a Carolingian aula (large, single-level hall) measuring 23 × 17 metres and with thick walls (1.7 to 1.8 metres) was built. 30 to 50 years later, a fire destroyed the roof structure. Its openings were walled up and the walls covered with lime. It was then raised by one storey, and the first floor became a vast blind cellar. Access was gained from the upper floor, 5 meters above ground level, via a timber-framed staircase, transforming the aula into a fortified master tower (tour-donjon), making Doué-la-Fontaine the oldest known stone château-fort and donjon.
At the beginning of the 11th century, the lower part of the building was encased in heaps of earth to prevent undermining, thus masking the outer walls of the first floor, which was transformed into a cellar. The aula, itself transformed into a motte castrale, was buried to a height of 5 meters to reinforce the motte, on which a wooden fortification was erected. The defensive system was completed by a moat around the motte, 5 metres deep and 15 metres wide.
All that remains of the tower, which was destroyed in the 11th century, is the original Carolingian aula. All that remains on the top of the walls are the first buttresses of the 950s elevation.
Its rectangular keep is the oldest known standing keep in Europe, erected during the reign of Charles the Bald, Charlemagne’s grandson.
The building marks a major historical transition: from the wooden fortifications common in Merovingian and Carolingian times, to the first cut-stone structures, capable of withstanding more powerful assaults and lasting over time.
Here, the keep is rectangular in structure, built of tufa stone. The walls are around 1.60 metres thick, and the narrow openings bear witness to its defensive purpose.
Unlike later castles, with their circular towers, machicolations and parapets, Doué-la-Fontaine predates the golden age of medieval military architecture. It is considered a prototype, an architectural milestone between the Carolingian palace and the feudal fortress.
Traces of a palatial annex and inner courtyard have been identified, giving the château its administrative and residential character.
As the castle’s master tower, the keep is its final defensive feature. It dominates the entire castral system (the entire castle).
The Tour de Crest is the former keep of the medieval castle of Crest in the Drôme region of France. Standing 52 metres high, it makes the Crest keep the tallest in the world.
The base of the tower dates back to Roman times, to the 4th century. The remainder dates from the 11th to 15th centuries.
In 1632, Cardinal Richelieu had the Château de Crest demolished. Only the massive tower overlooking the town remained.
With over 47,000 châteaux, manors, palaces, stately homes, bastides, fortified farms and mills, stud farms, gentilhommières and hôtels particuliers, France is the country with the most châteaux in the world.
In France, the Dordogne aux mille châteaux, is the department with the most castles. With almost 620 châteaux and 380 characterful residences, Périgord is nicknamed the land of 1001 châteaux.
Nouvelle Aquitaine is the region with the most castles in France.
A château is most often surrounded by parkland and set off by gardens.
Outbuildings, service buildings, outhouses, stables, farms, barns, mills, chapels, abbeys, churches, temples, dovecotes, ice houses… may also accompany it and still be visible.
Candlelit dinners can be enjoyed at many châteaux, but they are usually short-lived and seasonal events.
The best-known are the candlelit dinners at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte in Ile-de-France, Château de Valençay in the Loire Valley, Château de Quintin in Brittany, Château de l’Augère in Bourbonnais, Château de Losse in Périgord.
Candlelit dinners can also be enjoyed as part of a stay at a château.
For the rental of rooms in a château, the average budget varies from €1,500 to €3,500.
The average cost for the entire privatization of a château for a wedding can start at around €6,000 and go up to €30,000 or more, depending on standing, number of accommodations and rental duration.
To this must be added the traditional services of a wedding party: rental of tables, chairs, cutlery, decorations, flowers, catering services, sound system, photographer, accommodation, printer… And don’t forget the cost of extras (baby-sitting, car rentals, parachute arrival, hot-air balloon, horse-drawn carriage, sedan chair, oxcart, giant pumpkin…). Only your imagination will guide your choices).
Dress as you like, opting for lightweight, stretchy, breathable clothing. Cotton joggers, leggings or stretch pants are perfect, paired with a flowing t-shirt or light sweatshirt. If you’re comfortable, you’ll be able to concentrate on the riddles.
This time, there won’t be a ball at the château!
We recommend 1 to 2 hours to discover a castle’s tour circuit.
Some, like the great royal and princely palaces, will take longer.
You can easily spend the day in castles, palaces, parks or other places, organized into circuits and activities: fun, sports, themed activities, workshops, masquerade costume, restaurants, zoos, parks and gardens.
Some locations also offer a stay at the château, plus wellness, sports and local discovery services.
For a few moments or a whole day, a château experience is a change of scenery, a breath of oxygen, culture and laughter that enriches and awakens visitors: Open your eyes!
