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 (3 years ago)
Great area lovely people.

Simon Rose (3 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 (3 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 (3 years ago)
Beautiful place worth a visit

Erwin Reijgers (4 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.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright joiseyshowaa

Historic Site of the week

Broch of Gurness

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.

Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

Do you know an ancient castle or magnificent church near you?

Why not share it with other people interested in history? You can add your own historic sites and attractions to SpottingHistory.com.

It's absolutely free, easy, and doesn't even need registration!

Upload data

Château de Villesavin

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Great Spa Towns of Europe

History of Guernsey & Jersey

Most beautiful castles in Lithuania

Historic Site of the week

Broch of Gurness

Looks like you are a history fan!