Château de Chenonceau
Château de Chenonceau, also known as Château des Dames, is a Loire château in the Touraine region, in the commune of Chenonceaux, in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Centre-Val de Loire region.
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History
The Château de Chenonceau is one of the most famous and most visited châteaux in France, welcoming over a million visitors every year. Built on the piers of an ancient fortified mill, it occupies a spectacular position above the Cher river, which it spans thanks to its two-storey gallery built under Catherine de Médicis. The history of the château is intimately linked to the women who have shaped it. Katherine Briçonnet supervised its construction from 1513 onwards on the foundations of a medieval mill. Henri II offered it to his favourite Diane de Poitiers in 1547, who had the bridge built over the Cher and laid out the first formal gardens. On the death of the king in 1559, Catherine de Médicis took possession of the château and had the famous two-storey gallery built over the bridge (1576-1581), creating the emblematic architecture we know today. The building has an original layout: a rectangular main building resting on the mill piers, to which is added the 60-metre gallery over five arches. The interiors feature exceptional furniture from the 16th to 18th centuries, Flemish tapestries and paintings by masters. The kitchens, installed in the bridge piers at water level, are also remarkable.
Architecture
French Renaissance style. Main building on a square base with four corner towers, central staircase with straight banisters, innovative for its time. Two-storey gallery 60 m long over five arches spanning the Cher river. Two formal formal gardens (Diane de Poitiers garden and Catherine de Médicis garden).
