Château de Chaumont

Chaumont-sur-Loire, France

The Château de Chaumont was founded in the 10th century by Odo I, Count of Blois. The purpose was to protect his lands from attacks from his feudal rivals, Fulk Nerra, Count of Anjou. On his behalf the Norman Gelduin received it, improved it and held it as his own. His great-niece Denise de Fougère, having married Sulpice d'Amboise, passed the château into the Amboise family for five centuries.

Pierre d'Amboise unsuccessfully rebelled against King Louis XI and his property was confiscated, and the castle was dismantled on royal order in 1465. It was later rebuilt by Charles I d'Amboise from 1465–1475 and then finished by his son, Charles II d'Amboise de Chaumont from 1498–1510, with help from his uncle, Cardinal Georges d'Amboise; some Renaissance features were to be seen in buildings that retained their overall medieval appearance. The château was acquired by Catherine de Medici in 1550. There she entertained numerous astrologers, among them Nostradamus. When her husband, Henry II, died in 1559 she forced his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, to exchange Château de Chaumont for Château de Chenonceau which Henry had given to de Poitiers. Diane de Poitiers only lived at Chaumont for a short while.

Later Chaumont has changed hands several times. Paul de Beauvilliers bought the château in 1699, modernized some of its interiors and decorated it with sufficient grandeur to house the duc d'Anjou on his way to become king of Spain in 1700. Monsieur Bertin demolished the north wing to open the house towards the river view in the modern fashion.

In 1750, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray purchased the castle as a country home where he established a glassmaking and pottery factory. He was considered the French "Father of the American Revolution" because he loved America. However, in 1789, the new French Revolutionary Government seized Le Ray's assets, including his beloved Château de Chaumont.

The castle has been classified as a Monument historique since 1840 by the French Ministry of Culture. The Château de Chaumont is currently a museum and every year hosts a Garden Festival from April to October where contemporary garden designers display their work in an English-style garden.

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Address

Le Château, Chaumont-sur-Loire, France
See all sites in Chaumont-sur-Loire

Details

Founded: 1465-1510
Category: Castles and fortifications in France

More Information

en.wikipedia.org
www.domaine-chaumont.fr

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours (37,8 km)
Tours Cathedral (37,9 km)
Château de Chambord (29,4 km)
Château de Loches (41,8 km)
Château de Bouges (61,2 km)
Château de Blois (16,3 km)
Château d'Amboise (16,5 km)
Blois Cathedral (16,8 km)
Château de Cheverny (20,9 km)

User Reviews

Debbie R (5 months ago)
If you want to enjoy a beautiful picturesque Chateau while visiting France do go see this one! The gardens were just amazing, we figured we were going to be there 2 hrs but 5 hrs later near closing time we left in awe. We visited during their International Garden Festival and it's theme this year was "Garden of thought". We enjoyed more it beautiful gardens than the interior of the castle, I guess it's because many of its rooms were turned into modern art galleries.
Oliver Whitefield (6 months ago)
What an amazing Château in a truly fabulous location overlooking the Loire River and Valley below. In addition to the Château, the stable block was also a incredible structure in its own right and gardens were just fantastic and maintained by an enthusiastic team. The valley of the mist was pretty eerie and should be visited......
Elena Stefan (7 months ago)
The grounds are beautiful, flowers, sculptures, modern art displays run throughout the area. The view of the Loire valley is stunning. The Chateau has been beautifully restored and the audio tour is one of the best I have ever seen. This was one of my favorite places we've seen on our trip.
Lucrezia Sperzani (7 months ago)
Nice castle, especially the view from the inside. However when we were there there was an exhibition on the second floor which was a little bit out of the context. The rest of the rooms were nice and well decorated although some things were super new and maybe it would have been better to choose ancient ones. The chapelle in particular was totally ruined by the exhibition that took place in the castle. I hope they will remove it.
John Duh (8 months ago)
The grounds are really well kept, there's ample parking and the castle itself is a castle as so many (not a historian here) the room contain the obligatory furniture and Armour and are well explained (in 4 languages) When we visited there was a contemporary art expo going on. This made the visit a lot more interesting and had the added bonus of opening some parts of the castle to the public which usually are closed of.
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Beersel Castle

The moated castle at Beersel is one of the few exceptionally well-preserved examples of medieval fortifications in Belgium. It remains pretty much as it must have appeared in the 15th century. Remarkably, it was never converted into a fortified mansion. A visitor is able to experience at first-hand how it must have felt to live in a heavily fortified castle in the Middle Ages.

The castle was built in around 1420 as a means of defence on the outer reaches of Brussels. The tall, dense walls and towers were intended to hold any besiegers at bay. The moat and the marshy ground along its eastern, southern and western edges made any attack a formidable proposition. For that reason, any attackers would have chosen its weaker northern defences where the castle adjoins higher lying ground. But the castle was only taken and destroyed on one occasion in 1489, by the inhabitants of Brussels who were in rebellion against Maximilian of Austria.

After being stormed and plundered by the rebels it was partially rebuilt. The pointed roofs and stepped gables are features which have survived this period. The reconstruction explains why two periods can be identified in the fabric of the edifice, particularly on the outside.

The red Brabant sandstone surrounds of the embrasures, now more or less all bricked up, are characteristic of the 15th century. The other embrasures, edged with white sandstone, date from the end of the 15th century. They were intended for setting up the artillery fire. The merlons too are in white sandstone. The year 1617 can be clearly seen in the foundation support on the first tower. This refers to restorations carried out at the time by the Arenberg family.

Nowadays, the castle is dominated by three massive towers. The means of defence follow the classic pattern: a wide, deep moat surrounding the castle, a drawbridge, merlons on the towers, embrasures in the walls and in the towers, at more or less regular intervals, and machiolations. Circular, projecting towers ensured that attacks from the side could be thwarted. If the enemy were to penetrate the outer wall, each tower could be defended from embrasures facing onto the inner courtyard.

The second and third towers are flanked by watchtowers from which shots could be fired directly below. Between the second and third tower are two openings in the walkway on the wall. It is not clear what these were used for. Were these holes used for the disposing of rubbish, or escape routes. The windows on the exterior are narrow and low. All light entering comes from the interior. The few larger windows on the exterior date from a later period. It is most probable that the third tower - the highest - was used as a watchtower.

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