Châteaux of the Loire Valley
Châteaux of the Loire Valley | |
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Renaissance period | |
Architectural style(s) | French Renaissance architecture |
Europe and North America |
The châteaux of the Loire Valley (French: châteaux de la Loire) are part of the architectural heritage of the historic towns of Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Montsoreau, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours along the river Loire in France. They illustrate Renaissance ideals of design in France.[1]
The
History
With the Hundred Years' War concluded, Charles VII, Louis XI, and their successors preferred to spend the bulk of their time in the "garden of France" along the banks of the Loire. In the late 15th century Tours, then Blois, and later Amboise became the preferred locations of the French royal court. Many courtiers bought dilapidated castles built by the medieval Counts of Blois and of Anjou, and they had them reconstructed in the latest Italianate fashion. Leonardo da Vinci and other Italian artists arrived to design and beautify these residences.
In the 16th century,
The French Revolution saw a number of the great châteaux destroyed and many ransacked, their treasures stolen. The overnight impoverishment of many French noble families, usually after one of their members lost his or her head to the guillotine, saw many châteaux demolished. During World War I and World War II, various chateaux were commandeered as military headquarters. Some of these continued to be so used after the end of World War II.
Today, the remaining privately owned châteaux serve as homes and some of them open their doors to tourists, while others operate as hotels or bed-and-breakfasts. Many others have been taken over by local governments, and the grandest, like those at Chambord, are owned and operated by the national government and are major tourist sites, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
List of châteaux of the Loire
Though there may be no universally accepted definition for the designation, the main criterion is that the château must be situated close to the
Royal châteaux
Châteaux of the nobility
Other châteaux
Map
See also
- List of châteaux in France
- Tuffeau, principal building material of the Loire Valley
References
- ISBN 9780135401217.
- ^ "Six Enchanting Castles to Visit in the Loire Valley". 18 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Peregrine, Anthony (21 May 2014). "The best chateaux of the Loire Valley, France". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ a b Lounes, Allison (4 December 2012). "Chateaux spectacular: 5 best Loire Valley castles | CNN Travel". CNN. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ Gleadell, Colin (23 June 2015). "Largest Collection of Radical Conceptualists ART & LANGUAGE Finds a Home in French Chateau | artnet news". artnet. Retrieved 24 April 2018.