Château de Combourg

Combourg, France

The original castle on the site of current Château de Combourg was built around 1025 by Archbishop Guinguené, who gave it to his illegitimate brother Riwallon. Major alterations were made between the 15th and 19th centuries. The castle consists of four large, powerful buildings of dressed granite, with crenellations and machicolations, enclosing a rectangular courtyard. In each corner of this massive fortress is a round tower, also with crenellations and machicolations, with conical roofs. In 1761, the Chateaubriand family acquired the property and it was the childhood home of François-René de Chateaubriand (1768–1848).

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Address

D794 2-8, Combourg, France
See all sites in Combourg

Details

Founded: 1025
Category: Castles and fortifications in France
Historical period: Birth of Capetian dynasty (France)

More Information

www.chateau-combourg.com
en.wikipedia.org

Rating

3.9/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Mont Saint Michel Abbey (31 km)
Mont Saint Michel Island (31 km)
Château de Saint-Malo (33,6 km)
Saint-Malo Cathedral (33,5 km)
St. Sauveur Basilica (21,8 km)
Rennes Cathedral (33,3 km)
St. Malo Church (22,2 km)
Dol Cathedral (15,9 km)
Château de Dinan (22 km)

User Reviews

martin.d humpston (2 years ago)
Love the tour the down side we were handed a book which was 4 or 5 pages long to follow the tour while guide spoke in France didn't make since need to translate while going around.
Peter Chester (3 years ago)
Great park Interesting house. Good guide but only in French.
Grace Richards (3 years ago)
The grounds are lovely (we didn't get to explore much as it was raining) but I wouldn't recommend the tour unless a fluent French speaker! I thought we'd just be able to look around the Château by ourselves but you could only go in as part of the group which wasn't ideal!
Roger Scott (3 years ago)
An enjoyable afternoon but the castle can only be visited with a guide- and some are much better than others. Dont try and drag young children round the castle! Spacious gardens and Combourg is a very pleasant place to visit in any case!
Harvey Mains (3 years ago)
Grounds are beautiful. We were too late for a tour, so I just walked around and absorbed the wonderful ambience. The town is charming with a lake.
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Palazzo Colonna

The Palazzo Colonna is a palatial block of buildings built in part over ruins of an old Roman Serapeum, and has belonged to the prestigious Colonna family for over twenty generations.

The first part of the palace dates from the 13th century, and tradition holds that the building hosted Dante in his visit to Rome. The first documentary mention notes that the property hosted Cardinal Giovanni and Giacomo Colonna in the 13th century. It was also home to Cardinal Oddone Colonna before he ascended to the papacy as Martin V (1417–1431).

With his passing, the palace was sacked during feuds, and the main property passed into the hands of the Della Rovere family. It returned to the Colonna family when Marcantonio I Colonna married Lucrezia Gara Franciotti Della Rovere, the niece of pope Julius II. The Colonna"s alliance to the Habsburg power, likely protected the palace from looting during the Sack of Rome (1527).

Starting with Filippo Colonna (1578–1639) many changes have refurbished and create a unitary complex around a central garden. Architects including Girolamo Rainaldi and Paolo Marucelli labored on specific projects. Only in the 17th and 18th centuries were the main facades completed. Much of this design was completed by Antonio del Grande (including the grand gallery), and Girolamo Fontana (decoration of gallery). In the 18th century, the long low facade designed by Nicola Michetti with later additions by Paolo Posi with taller corner blocks (facing Piazza Apostoli) was constructed recalls earlier structures resembling a fortification.

The main gallery (completed 1703) and the masterful Colonna art collection was acquired after 1650 by both the cardinal Girolamo I Colonna and his nephew the Connestabile Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna and includes works by Lorenzo Monaco, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Palma the Elder, Salviati, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Pietro da Cortona, Annibale Carracci (painting of The Beaneater), Guercino, Francesco Albani, Muziano and Guido Reni. Ceiling frescoes by Filippo Gherardi, Giovanni Coli, Sebastiano Ricci, and Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari celebrate the role of Marcantonio II Colonna in the battle of Lepanto (1571). The gallery is open to the public on Saturday mornings.

The older wing of the complex known as the Princess Isabelle"s apartments, but once housing Martin V"s library and palace, contains frescoes by Pinturicchio, Antonio Tempesta, Crescenzio Onofri, Giacinto Gimignani, and Carlo Cesi. It contains a collection of landscapes and genre scenes by painters like Gaspard Dughet, Caspar Van Wittel (Vanvitelli), and Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Along with the possessions of the Doria-Pamphilij and Pallavacini-Rospigliosi families, this is one of the largest private art collections in Rome.

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