Château de Villesavin, Tour-en-Sologne, France

Villesavin, built between 1527-1537 by Jean Breton, was his home while he supervised works at Château de Chambord nearby. Stone carvers from the royal château ornamented Villesavin.

Villesavin is one of the least altered of the many late-Renaissance châteaux in the Loire Valley. Low walls and unusually high roofs has been built around three very spacious courtyards. The elegant southern facade ends with a large dovecote. The château’s essentially domestic spirit is also evident in the service court, overlooked by a spacious kitchen with a working pit.

The interesting collection of old carriages on display includes an 18m long voiture de chasse with four rows of seat, from which ladies could watch the hunt.

References:

Eyewitness Travel Guide: Loire Valley. 2007

User Reviews

Malcolm Connop (2 years ago)
Great area lovely people.

Simon Rose (2 years ago)
Nice château. As with most the grounds are cheaper than going inside. There is a small "farm" to see with a handful of animals (goats, chickens, rabbits, a pony and donkeys. Nice gardens for a picnic and a pleasant walk round the outside of the chateau. Also fed the fish! 6€ entry for grounds.

Jan Luse (2 years ago)
Lovely chateau but if you want to see the inside you pay more for a tour or you just see the outside for your admission price.

Mark Edwards (2 years ago)
Beautiful place worth a visit

Erwin Reijgers (3 years ago)
Spectacular architecture! Worth a visit. Was able to go in late spring mid-week so crowds were not bad. There's a lot more to see since the last time I was there 15 years ago.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Peer.Gynt

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The St Sophia's Cathedral was built between 1045-1050 inside the Novgorod Kremlin (fortress). It is one of the earliest stone structures of northern Russia. Its height is 38 m. Originally it was taller, for during the past nine centuries the lower part of the building became concealed by the two-metre thick cultural layer. The cathedral was built by Prince Vladimir, the son of Yaroslav the Wise, and until the 1130s this principal church of the city also served as the sepulchre of Novgorodian princes. For the Novgorodians, St Sophia became synonymous with their town, the symbol of civic power and independence.

The five-domed church looks simpler but no less impressive than its prototype, the thirteen-domed St Sophia of Kiev. The cathedral exterior is striking in its majesty and epic splendour evoking the memories of Novgorod's glorious past and invincible might. In the 11th century it looked more imposing than now. Its facade represented a gigantic mosaic of huge, coarsely trimmed irregular slabs of flagstone and shell rock. In some places (particularly on the apses), the wall was covered with mortar, smoothly polished, drawn up to imitate courses of brick or of whitestone slabs, and slightly coloured. As a result, the facade was not white, as it is today, but multicoloured. The play of stone, decorative painting and the building materials of various texture enhanced the impression of austere simplicity and introduced a picturesque effect.

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