Château de Matval is a 13th-15th century castle in the commune of Bonneveau. The Merovingian castrum, named Matoval, was destroyed by the Normans in the 10th century. In 1459, the fiefdom was given to Jean, an illegitimate son of Louis, Count of Vendôme. The present castle was built by the powerful counts of Bourbon Vendôme, ancestors of King Henri IV to whom the castle later belonged.
Under Louis XIV, the Marquis de Louvois, his famous Minister of War, made it his home, followed by a succession of notable people including Napoleon II.
Matval is equally renowned as the origin of the rennet apple variety, reinettes du Mans. In effect, Childebert I, having brought grafts of apple trees from Spain, planted them himself in his park, creating what became the most famous apple in France.
The castle's vestiges testify to an architecture specific to the military buildings of their time. The south-eastern corner of the house is a wall pierced by arrowslits, remains of a construction provided with arrowslits and a bretèche, which connected the building to a round tower.
Underground galleries run under the hill and the castle.
The Merovingian mint is a reminder that the domain was royal and that coins were minted here. The statuette by the entrance is a jewel of the Merovingian age and unique in Europe.
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The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.
The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.
Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.