Château de Langeais, Langeais, France

The Château de Langeais is a medieval castle, rebuilt as a château. Founded in 992 by Fulk Nerra, Count of Anjou, the castle was soon attacked by Odo I, Count of Blois. After the unsuccessful attack, the now-ruined stone keep was built; it is one of the earliest datable stone examples of a keep. Between 994 and 996 the castle was besieged unsuccessfully twice more. During the conflict between the counts of Anjou and Blois, the castle changed hands several times, and in 1038 Fulk captured the castle again.

Under the Plantagenet kings, the château was fortified and expanded by Richard I of England (King Richard the Lionhearted). However, King Philippe II of France recaptured the château in 1206. Eventually though, during the Hundred Years' War, the English destroyed it. The château was rebuilt about 1465 during the reign of King Louis XI. The great hall of the château was the scene of the marriage of Anne of Brittany to King Charles VIII on December 6, 1491 that made the permanent union of Brittany and France.

In 1886, Jacques Siegfried bought Château Langeais and began a restoration program. He installed an outstanding collection of tapestries and furnishings and bequeathed the château to the Institut de France which still owns it today. Today Langeais is especially noted for its monumental and highly decorated chimneypieces. t is listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture and is open to the public.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Silvia Paul (2 years ago)
The castle is considered to be the oldest from France, even it suffered many maintenance works during time it is pleasant to be visited. There you can see also the remaining "walls" from an old chapel, dated 1000 years ago and the gardens. For us the visit took 2 h. The view is very nice from above, you can see a large and long bridge, the river Loire and the City. It is nice. I recommend it to be visited.

Marcin Kwiatkowski (2 years ago)
Unexpected i found myself around and I was shocked that I didn't checked nothing about this place A lot of rooms to see, the guide books available in French, English, German and more Beautiful parc behind the chateau, with few sight points Ticket fare reduction for children and young people Public toilet available

petethevan (2 years ago)
An excellent find. Different due to the plethora of wall tapestries and wonderful tiled floors. The tour takes you up several floors and along the enclosed battlements - which may induce vertigo in some people. The surrounding village seemed to be very clean and amazingly enough, two of the cafés were open after 2pm in June.

Sj M (2 years ago)
Lovely chateau with a mix of formal and non formal gardens

Angie Dickinson (3 years ago)
Amazing chateau in the middle of town, fantastic displays in each room and beautiful grounds to wander in. Well worth €11 and for us, great that dogs were allowed inside as well as outside.

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