Château de Meillant, Meillant, France

The well-preserved Château de Meillant was built for Charles d’Amboise in 1510 by Italian craftsmen. It represents a fine composition of late Gothic and early Renaissance architecture. The château is dominated by the Lion’s Tower, an octagonal three-storey staircase tower.

Other highlights of the visit include the château’s graceful chapel and its surrounding grounds. The plainer west facade, mirrored in a moat, dates from the early 1300s.

References:

Eyewitness Travel Guide: Loire Valley. 2007

User Reviews

Lorent Lorent (4 months ago)
Beau château, petit mais bien meublé, des oeuvres et tableau intéressant. Toutes fois attention car beaucoup de meubles ne sont pas d'époque, genre et réplique. La visite n'est pas animé, l'histoire n'a pas ça place, trop courte et rapide.... Cela gâche tous.

rosie boyes (7 months ago)
OK for a quick visit

Josh Williams (3 years ago)
Magnificent.

Paul Feesey (3 years ago)
Nice grounds and very quiet. Not many people around. Tour is not great if you speak no French.

Charles Smith (4 years ago)
Our son married the niece of the Marquis who owns the Chateau and the reception was at Meillant. It was the most wonderful and amazing experience for all of us!! It is a beautiful chateau owned by a most wonderful family!!

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Guido Rudolph

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Lübeck Cathedral

Lübeck Cathedral is a large brick-built Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of the Lübeck UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1173 Henry the Lion founded the cathedral to serve the Diocese of Lübeck, after the transfer in 1160 of the bishop's seat from Oldenburg in Holstein under bishop Gerold. The then Romanesque cathedral was completed around 1230, but between 1266 and 1335 it was converted into a Gothic-style building with side-aisles raised to the same height as the main aisle.

On the night of Palm Sunday (28–29 March) 1942 a Royal Air Force bombing raid destroyed a fifth of the town centre. Several bombs fell in the area around the church, causing the eastern vault of the quire to collapse and destroying the altar which dated from 1696. A fire from the neighbouring cathedral museum spread to the truss of the cathedral, and around noon on Palm Sunday the towers collapsed. An Arp Schnitger organ was lost in the flames. Nevertheless, a relatively large portion of the internal fittings was saved, including the cross and almost all of the medieval polyptychs. In 1946 a further collapse, of the gable of the north transept, destroyed the vestibule almost completely.

Reconstruction of the cathedral took several decades, as greater priority was given to the rebuilding of the Marienkirche. Work was completed only in 1982.

The cathedral is unique in that at 105 m, it is shorter than the tallest church in the city. This is the consequence of a power struggle between the church and the guilds.

The 17 m crucifix is the work of the Lübeck artist Bernt Notke. It was commissioned by the bishop of Lübeck, Albert II. Krummendiek, and erected in 1477. The carvings which decorate the rood screen are also by Notke.

Since the war, the famous altar of Hans Memling has been in the medieval collection of the St. Annen Museum, but notable polyptychs remain in the cathedral.

In the funeral chapels of the southern aisle are Baroque-era memorials by the Flemish sculptor Thomas Quellinus.

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