The Château de Chenonceau

The Château de Chenonceau, near the small village of Chenonceaux, in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France, was built on the site of an old mill on the River Cher, sometime before its first mention in writing in the 11th century. The current manor was designed by the French Renaissance architect Philibert Delorme.

The original manor was torched in 1411 to punish owner Jean Marques for an act of sedition. He rebuilt a castle and fortified mill on the site in the 1430s. Subsequently, his indebted heir Pierre Marques sold the castle to Thomas Bohier, Chamberlain for King Charles VIII of France in 1513. Bohier destroyed the existing castle and built an entirely new residence between 1515 and 1521; the work was sometimes overseen by his wife Katherine Briçonnet, who delighted in hosting French nobility, including King François I on two occasions.

Eventually, the château was seized from Bohier's son by François I for unpaid debts to the Crown, and after François' death in 1547, Henry II offered the château as a gift to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers who became fervently attached to the château and its view along the river. She would have the arched bridge constructed, joining the château to its opposite bank. She then oversaw the planting of extensive flower and vegetable gardens along with a variety of fruit trees. Set along the banks of the river, but buttressed from flooding by stone terraces, the exquisite gardens were laid out in four triangles.

As Regent of France, Catherine would spend a fortune on the château and on spectacular nighttime parties. In 1560, the first ever fireworks display seen in France took place during the celebrations marking the ascension to the throne of Catherine's son François II. The grand gallery, which extended along the existing bridge to cross the entire river, was dedicated in 1577.

During World War I the gallery was used as a hospital ward; during the Second War it was a means of escaping from the Nazi occupied zone on one side of the River Cher to the "free" Vichy zone on the opposite bank.

In 1951, the Menier family entrusted the château's restoration to Bernard Voisin, who brought the dilapidated structure and the gardens (ravaged in the Cher River flood in 1940) back to a reflection of its former glory.

An architectural mixture of late Gothic and early Renaissance, Château de Chenonceau and its gardens are open to the public. Other than the Royal Palace of Versailles, Chenonceau is the most visited château in France.

Photo by charlesdyer

As you leave the Château, you will discover the gardens which surround it.
On the right, Diane de Poitiers' garden, the entrance to which is overlooked by the Steward's house: La Chancellerie, built in the 16th century. In the centre of the garden, there is a fountain described by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau in his book entitled Les plus Excellents Bâtiments de France (The most Excellent Buildings in France - 1576).

This garden is protected from flooding by the Cher by elevated terraces from which there are beautiful views over the borders and over the Château. On the left, The more intimate garden of Catherine de' Medici, with a central pool and from which we discover the West façade.

Photo by lei9hjones

The Gardens' floral decoration changes in the spring and in the summer needs 130,000 bedding plants grown on the Estate to be planted. Lining the Court of Honour, the domes buildin, from the 16th century, formerly housed the Royal Stables and the silk worm farm introduced into France by Catherine de' Medici. Also, the 16th century farm and the 70 hectare park can also be visited.

Alongside the Grand Avenue of Plane trees, in the centre of the arbour and facing the caryatides, a maze with two thousand yews has been planted in the spirit of Catherine de' Medici's time, according to an Italian plan dating from 1720.

Photo by Melusine77