Clos Lucé

Amboise, France

Clos Lucé is a mansion in Amboise, France, located 500 metres from the royal Château d'Amboise, to which it is connected by an underground passageway. Built by Hugues d'Amboise in the middle of the fifteenth century, it was acquired in 1490 by Charles VIII of France for his wife, Anne de Bretagne. Later, it was used by Francis I, as well as his sister Marguerite de Navarre, who began writing her book entitled L'Heptaméron while living there.

In 1516, Francis I invited Leonardo da Vinci to Amboise and provided him with the Clos Lucé, then called Château de Cloux, as a place to stay and work. Leonardo, a famous painter and inventor, arrived with three of his paintings, namely the Mona Lisa, Sainte Anne, and Saint Jean Baptiste. Leonardo lived at the Clos Lucé for the last three years of his life, and died there on 2 May 1519.

Today, the Clos Lucé is a museum that reflects the prestigious history of the region and includes forty models of the various machines designed by Leonardo.

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Address

Rue du Clos Luce 2, Amboise, France
See all sites in Amboise

Details

Founded: 1490
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in France

More Information

vinci-closluce.com
en.wikipedia.org
www.chateaux-france.com

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Château d'Amboise (0,6 km)
Post Museum (0,6 km)
Pagode de Chanteloup (2,7 km)
St. Denis' Church (1 km)


Château de Chenonceau (11,2 km)
Château de Villandry (36,8 km)
Château de Blois (32,1 km)
Tours Cathedral (22,5 km)
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours (22,5 km)
Château de Chaumont (16,2 km)
Tours Old Town (23,4 km)
Château de Cheverny (36,4 km)
Basilica of St. Martin (23,3 km)

User Reviews

Nayantara Ghag (5 months ago)
It was very informative, scientific for kids. Many models were displayed for kids to see the working of the inventions done by Leonardo Da Vinci. A must visit!!
Francois & Pam BELORGEY (6 months ago)
Such a beautiful garden to stroll, very interactive and very much highly recommended to go here for a visit. We were lucky to see Mona Lisa amongst the Autumn leaves(as well as the real painting at the Louvre of course)
Imogen Hall (8 months ago)
Quite a big queue to get in, and almost too many people to really enjoy the essence of each room. We felt quite packed in! Having said that, lots of little nooks to sit down in and lovely house to visit.
Robert Kernahan (9 months ago)
A great bit of history and well maintained. It was absolutely packed when we went and we got trapped in a room a few times with so many people coming in and out the door. Overall pretty good but don't go at the busy times.
Don Whinney (10 months ago)
Fantastic visit. House and gardens well laid out and very interesting. Clean and tidy. Well worth the money, unlike the nearby Pagoda. Don't go there, it's a rip off! Go to Chateau du Close and be pleasantly educated.
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Porta Nigra

The Porta Nigra (Latin for black gate) is the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps. It is designated as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier UNESCO World Heritage Site. The name Porta Nigra originated in the Middle Ages due to the darkened colour of its stone; the original Roman name has not been preserved. Locals commonly refer to the Porta Nigra simply as Porta.

The Porta Nigra was built in grey sandstone between 186 and 200 AD. The original gate consisted of two four-storied towers, projecting as near semicircles on the outer side. A narrow courtyard separated the two gate openings on either side. For unknown reasons, however, the construction of the gate remained unfinished. For example, the stones at the northern (outer) side of the gate were never abraded, and the protruding stones would have made it impossible to install movable gates. Nonetheless, the gate was used for several centuries until the end of the Roman era in Trier.

In Roman times, the Porta Nigra was part of a system of four city gates, one of which stood at each side of the roughly rectangular Roman city. The Porta Nigra guarded the northern entry to the Roman city, while the Porta Alba (White Gate) was built in the east, the Porta Media (Middle Gate) in the south, and the Porta Inclyta (Famous Gate) in the west, next to the Roman bridge across the Moselle. The gates stood at the ends of the two main streets of the Roman Trier, one of which led north-south and the other east-west. Of these gates, only the Porta Nigra still exists today.

In the early Middle Ages the Roman city gates were no longer used for their original function and their stones were taken and reused for other buildings. Also iron and lead braces were broken out of the walls of the Porta Nigra for reuse. Traces of this destruction are still clearly visible on the north side of the gate.

After 1028, the Greek monk Simeon lived as a hermit in the ruins of the Porta Nigra. After his death (1035) and sanctification, the Simeonstift monastery was built next to the Porta Nigra to honor him. Saving it from further destruction, the Porta Nigra was transformed into a church: The inner court of the gate was roofed and intermediate ceilings were inserted. The two middle storeys of the former gate were converted into church naves: the upper storey being for the monks and the lower storey for the general public. The ground floor with the large gates was sealed, and a large outside staircase was constructed alongside the south side (the town side) of the gate, up to the lower storey of the church. A small staircase led further up to the upper storey. The church rooms were accessible through former windows of the western tower of the Porta Nigra that were enlarged to become entrance doors (still visible today). The top floor of the western tower was used as church tower, the eastern tower was leveled, and an apse added at its east side. An additional gate - the much smaller Simeon Gate - was built adjacent to the East side of the Porta Nigra and served as a city gate in medieval times.

In 1802 Napoleon Bonaparte dissolved the church in the Porta Nigra and the monastery beside it, along with the vast majority of Trier"s numerous churches and monasteries. On his visit to Trier in 1804, Napoleon ordered that the Porta Nigra be converted back to its Roman form. Only the apse was kept; but the eastern tower was not rebuilt to its original height. Local legend has it that Napoleon originally wanted to completely tear down the church, but locals convinced him that the church had actually been a Gaulish festival hall before being turned into a church. Another version of the story is that they told him about its Roman origins, persuading him to convert the gate back to its original form.

In 1986 the Porta Nigra was designated a World Heritage Site, along with other Roman monuments in Trier and its surroundings. The modern appearance of the Porta Nigra goes back almost unchanged to the reconstruction ordered by Napoleon. At the south side of the Porta Nigra, remains of Roman columns line the last 100 m of the street leading to the gate. Positioned where they had stood in Roman times, they give a slight impression of the aspect of the original Roman street that was lined with colonnades. The Porta Nigra, including the upper floors, is open to visitors.

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