Château d'Azay-le-Rideau

Azay-le-Rideau, France

Château de Azay-le-Rideau was built from 1515 to 1527 and it is one of the earliest French Renaissance châteaux. Built on an island in the Indre River, its foundations rise straight out of the water.

Gilles Berthelot, Treasurer-General of the Finances of France under King Francis I and mayor of Tours, began reconstructing Azay-le-Rideau's earlier medieval castle, that was part of his wife's inheritance. However, it was his wife, Philippe Lesbahy, who directed the course of the works, including its central internal staircase that is Azay's greatest most remarkable feature.

When Berthelot was suspected of collusion in embezzlement he was forced to flee from incomplete Azay-le-Rideau in 1528; he never saw the château again. Instead, the king confiscated the property and gave it as a reward to one of his high-ranking soldiers.

Over the centuries, it changed hands several times until the early part of the twentieth century, when it was purchased by the French government and restored. The interior was completely refurbished with a collection of Renaissance pieces.

Today, the château is open to public visits, and is operated by the Centre des monuments nationaux. Azay-le-Rideau is surrounded by a distinctly 19th-century park like English landscape garden with many specimen trees, especially exotic conifers: Atlas cedar, and bald cypress and sequoias from the New World.

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Details

Founded: 1515-1527
Category: Castles and fortifications in France

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Paul Vivas (7 months ago)
Legendary castle! This is one of my favorite castles in France. Fabulous and enchanting. One of the best. Well worth a visit!
Amy Ballantyne (9 months ago)
Beautiful chateau, both inside and out. We arrived at 5pm so only had 1 hour before closing but we did a whirlwind tour and it was well worth it.
Charles Shelbourne (9 months ago)
We’ve visited quite a few chateau recently and this is very pretty, but again without much interior furnishing in the kitchen, and basement areas. No staff are on hand to offer answers to questions, and there was no audio facility for us (not in English?). I recommend they copy the English and install volunteers who might be enthusiastic in showing off their history knowledge to visitors. Luckily for a very wet day /week the skies cleared of clouds for our outdoor time. The lake was flowing fast so no decent reflections were possible on our visit, and we got drenched yet again as we departed.
Lucy Harris (9 months ago)
We loved this chateau, the setting with a moated chateau in beautiful grounds, right in the heart of the town is definitely a wonderful situation. A nice bonus was a display of costumes for plays, opera and ballet. We saw 2 kingfishers by the river, photo not great with the phone!
Martie Koegelenberg (11 months ago)
Our first Chateau in France and it did not disappoint. Smaller, but beautifully presented. Not crowded at all and the villiage a marvel. Well worth the visit.
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