Chateaux Chaumont-sur-Loire
Loire Valley
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Loire Valley
Chateaux - Chaumont-sur-Loire
Chateau
Chaumont-sur-Loire was built on the site of a former fortress that had dominated
the
Loire
river
offering resistance to the many attacks
on the Royal town of
Blois
using this route. Its location overlooking the town of
Chaumont
and the
Loire
made
it an ideal place to build a chateau for more peaceful times.
Work
was begun by Charles d’
Amboise
in 1466, and
continued by many owners over the centuries. After the death of Henry II
in 1559 it was bought by his wife Catherine de
Medicis
who proceeded to force Diane de
Poitiers
(Henry’s former mistress) to give up the beautiful
Chateau
Chenonceau
in exchange for living
here. Diane added her touch and influence as did many other owners,
though none more so than Prince
Amadee
de
Broglie. He moved here with his new bride in 1875 and did much to
restore its former splendour as well as remodelling the park, creating
gardens in an ‘English’ style.
In Chaumont it is fairly easy to park (free) down by the river and then
make your way through the town before making the long climb uphill,
which can be a pleasure if your fit, or you can turn uphill by the entrance in
the direction of Montrichard, then take the first right, through the
crossroads towards the school and you'll find the car park at the entrance to the '
Garden Festival
'.
Stroll through the park towards the chateau -look out for the 'art' within the grounds- and onto its drawbridge
before entering the inner courtyard.
You enter and view the grand salon, the billiards room and the library which present several 16th century Flemish tapestries. A spiral staircase takes one up to the guardroom above the drawbridge and then through several chambers with more tapestries in each chamber.
It's not the most lavishly furnished chateau of the Loire but the small
chapel is a delight.
T
he chateau has only three sides as the side facing the river was removed in the 16th century apparently to improve the view and what an impressive view it is!
Prince
Amadee
de
Broglie also added the
remarkable stables complete with running
water and electric lamps
when even the
grandest chateau had none.The horses must have been the best appointed
residents in the Loire Valley at the time!
T
he
gardens of the chateau today play host to the annual
‘Festival des
Jardins
’
. These gardens are created by different landscape
architects, designers and artists around a theme, which changes every
year. This brings the chateau surroundings to life with the colour and
fragrances of the many plants and flowers on display.
This
year's festival runs f
rom
the 23rd of April 2015 to 1st of November 2015
The 25th International Garden Festival on the theme
of “Extraordinary gardens, collectors’ gardens”
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"Author: Jim
Craig"
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