Misplaced Pages

#394605

43-582: The valley includes historic towns such as Amboise , Angers , Blois , Chinon , Montsoreau , Orléans , Saumur , and Tours . The climate is favorable most of the year, the river often acting as a line of demarcation in France's weather between the northern climate and the southern. The river has a significant effect on the mesoclimate of the region, adding a few degrees of temperature. The climate can be cool with springtime frost while wine harvest months may have rain. Summers are hot; however, influences from

86-508: A dreary prison frowns over the reflecting waters, which glide mournfully past the towers. Later that year, in October, President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte visited Abd al-Qadir at Amboise to give him the news of his release. In 1873, Louis-Philippe's heirs were given control of the property and a major effort to repair it was made, directed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc . During the German invasion in 1940

129-459: A gallery round the terrace which can be seen in the 1576 engraving by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau , in Les plus excellens bastimens de France . The parterres have been recreated in the twentieth century as rectangles of lawns set in gravel and a formal bosquet of trees. King Francis I was raised at Amboise, which belonged to his mother, Louise of Savoy , and during the first few years of his reign,

172-554: A minor royal, bought it after Choiseul's death. At his own death in 1793, the castle was confiscated by the State. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte gifted Amboise to Roger Ducos who, after an engineering assessment, decided to destroy a large part of the castle in order to reduce its costs. Ducos was himself exiled in 1816 and Amboise recovered by the Duchess of Orléans , Penthièvre's daughter and mother of future King Louis Philippe I . Since 1840,

215-485: A rare association of Renaissance architecture with contemporary art . The architectural heritage in the valley's historic towns is notable, especially its châteaux, such as the Château de Montsoreau , Château d'Amboise , Château d'Azay-le-Rideau , Château de Chambord , Château de Chinon , Château du Rivau , Château d'Ussé , Château de Villandry and Chenonceau . The châteaux, numbering more than three hundred, include

258-905: A rich history" evidenced by "the wool market, the Halle de Cardeux, ... the 16th-century Logis du Chancelier, ... a riverside walk, Balcons de l’Indrois, [and] ... Jardinier Bridge". According to a 2017 report by CNN , the 42 chateaux that make up the UNESCO World Heritage Site receive over 3.3 million visitors per year. The Telegraph newspaper (2014) listed the following as the premiere chateaux for tourists: Chinon, Cité royale de Loches, Chaumont, Blois, Meung, Chenonceau, Rivau, Lemeré, Amboise, Clos Lucé, Amboise, Chambord, Villandry and Valençay. 47°12′59″N 0°03′44″E  /  47.21639°N 0.06222°E  / 47.21639; 0.06222 Amboise Amboise ( US : / ɒ̃ ˈ b w ɑː z / ; French: [ɑ̃bwaz] )

301-415: A stone inscription containing some of the letters of his name. However, other accounts describe heaps of bones (as is customary in chapels throughout France) and even anecdotes of children kicking skulls around for fun and games. Nonetheless, based on some contemporaneous accounts, it is the collection of bones that were found to be whole and with an extraordinarily large skull that are supposed to be buried in

344-589: Is twinned with: Ch%C3%A2teau d%27Amboise The Château d'Amboise is a château in Amboise , located in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was extensively rebuilt. King Charles VIII died at the château in 1498 after hitting his head on a door lintel. The château fell into decline from

387-472: Is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France . Today a small market town , it was once home of the French royal court. Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire , 27 kilometres (17 mi) east of Tours . It is also about 18 kilometres (11 mi) away from the historic Château de Chenonceau , situated on the river Cher near the small village of Chenonceaux . Amboise station , on

430-529: Is located just 500 m (1,640 feet) away. The narrow streets contain some good examples of timbered housing . Just outside the city is the Pagode de Chanteloup , a 44-metre-tall (144 ft) Chinese pagoda built in 1775 by the Duke of Choiseul . The pagoda is seven levels high, with each level slightly smaller than the last one. An interior staircase to reach all levels is open to the public. The Musée de la Poste (in

473-510: Is the only château to have been built in the Loire riverbed, it is also the only one to be entirely dedicated to contemporary art . The European Commission reported that in 2016, three categories accounted for most of the economy in the Pays-de-la-Loire region: services (including tourism) provided 66.7% of employment, industry 26.5% and agriculture, 3.9%. The unemployment rate was 8.8%. In 2015,

SECTION 10

#1732844920395

516-555: The Firth of Forth to Edinburgh on 15 August that year. The Edict of Amboise (1563) conceded the free exercise of worship to the Protestants. Here was born in 1743 Louis Claude de Saint-Martin , French philosopher, known as Le Philosophe Inconnu (d. 1803). Abd el Kader Ibn Mouhi Ad-Din (c. 1807 – 1883) was imprisoned at the Château d'Amboise . In 2019, the 500th anniversary of da Vinci's death, Amboise held many events celebrating

559-551: The Huguenots in 1560 against Francis II , Catherine de' Medici and the Guises . The Château at Amboise was home to Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots , for much of her early life, being raised there at the French court of Henry II . She arrived in France from Scotland in 1548, aged six, via the French king's favourite palace at Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, and remained in France until 1561, when she returned to her homeland—sailing up

602-607: The Atlantic moderate the temperature with breezes. Temperature, rainfall and average sunshine time in Angers ( Anjou ): The Loire Valley wine region is one of the world's most well-known areas of wine production and includes several French wine regions situated along the river from the Muscadet region on the Atlantic coast to the regions of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé just southeast of

645-532: The Chapel of Saint Hubert, where now a large floor-level marble stone bearing a metal medallion relief portrait of Leonardo da Vinci (based on the "Melzi's portrait") and the words LEONARDO DA VINCI seem indicative of his final resting place. Henry II and his wife, Catherine de' Medici , raised their children in the Château d'Amboise, along with Mary Stuart , the child Queen of Scotland who had been promised in marriage to

688-513: The Chapel of St Hubert. This Chapel of St Florentin belonged to the royal castle and lay within the stone fortifications surrounding the property of the Château d'Amboise, and it should not be confused with the nearby Église Saint Florentin, also in Amboise, but not located within the property boundaries of the Château d'Amboise. After the French Revolution (1789–1799), the Chapel of St Florentin

731-724: The Château d'Amboise has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture . King Louis-Philippe began restoring it during his reign but with his abdication in 1848, the château was confiscated by the government. The captive Emir Abd Al-Qadir , who resisted the French colonisation of Algeria , and an entourage of family and retainers were transferred to Château d'Amboise in November 1848. In 1852 an article in Bentley's Miscellany noted that before Abd Al-Qadir took up residence in

774-455: The Hôtel Joyeuse) is a museum tracing the history of the postal delivery service. A 20th-century fountain by Max Ernst stands in front of the market place. Amboise has a thriving tourism-related business community. Until 2021, it had also the headquarters of Mecachrome , a precision engineering company that operates in the aerospace, motor racing, energy and defence sectors. Amboise

817-580: The brother of the Bourbon King Louis XIII . After his death it returned to the Crown and was turned into a prison during the Fronde , and under Louis XIV it held disgraced minister Nicolas Fouquet and the duc de Lauzun . Louis XV made a gift of it to his minister Étienne François de Choiseul, Duke of Choiseul , who had recently purchased the Château de Chanteloup to the west. The Duke of Penthièvre ,

860-570: The château reached the pinnacle of its glory. As a guest of the King, Leonardo da Vinci came to Château d'Amboise in December 1515 and lived and worked in the nearby Clos Lucé , connected to the château by an underground passage. Records show that at the time of Leonardo da Vinci's death on 2 May 1519, he was buried in the Chapel of St Florentin, originally located (before it was razed at the end of 18th century) approximately 100 metres (330 ft) northeast of

903-490: The château, it had frequently been visited by tourists. Amboise, a few years since, was a smiling, lively little town, and the castle was a pleasure residence of the last king; the gardens were delicious, the little chapter of St. Hubert a gem, restored in all its lustre, and the glory of artists and amateurs. All is now changed: a gloom has fallen on the scene, the flowers are faded, the gates are closed, they pretty pavilions are shut-up; there are guards instead of gardeners, and

SECTION 20

#1732844920395

946-428: The city of Orléans in north central France. Loire wines tend to exhibit a characteristic fruitiness with fresh, crisp flavors. On December 2, 2000, UNESCO added the central part of the river valley, between Chalonnes-sur-Loire and Sully-sur-Loire , to its list of World Heritage Sites. In choosing this area that includes the French départements of Loiret , Loir-et-Cher , Indre-et-Loire , and Maine-et-Loire ,

989-494: The committee said that the Loire Valley is: "an exceptional cultural landscape, of great beauty, comprised of historic cities and villages, great architectural monuments - the châteaux - and lands that have been cultivated and shaped by centuries of interaction between local populations and their physical environment, in particular the Loire itself." The Loire Valley chansonniers are a related group of songbooks attributed to

1032-592: The composers of the Loire Valley and are the earliest surviving examples of a new genre which offered a combination of words, music, and illuminations. A new Contemporary Art offer is developing all along the Loire River from Montsoreau to Orléans with such places as Château de Montsoreau-Contemporary Art Museum , CCCOD Tours, the Domaine Régional de Chaumont sur Loire and the Frac Centre Orléans . They are

1075-584: The cultural monuments illustrate to an exceptional degree the ideals of the Renaissance and the Age of the Enlightenment on western European thought and design. Many of the châteaux were designed to be built on the top of hills, one example of this is the Château d'Amboise . Many of the châteaux had extremely detailed and expensive churches on the grounds, or within the actual château itself. The Château de Montsoreau

1118-706: The easternmost castles of Amboise and Loches by raiding the Saumurois and disrupting communications. To further threaten Amboise, fortifications were erected at Chaumont and Montsoreau , while Saint-Aignan was garrisoned. There is a 12th-century Book of the Construction of the Castle of Amboise and the Deeds of Its Lords . Expanded and improved over time, on 4 September 1434 it was seized by Charles VII of France , after its owner, Louis d'Amboise, Viscount of Thours (1392–1469),

1161-435: The family to Fulke Nerra in 987. Fulk had to contend with the ambitions of Odo I, Count of Blois who wanted to expand his own territory into Anjou. Odo I could call on the support of many followers and instructed Conan, Count of Rennes , Gelduin of Saumur , and Abbot Robert of Saint-Florent de Saumur to harass Fulk's properties. While Conan was busy on Anjou's western border, Gelduin and Robert attempted to isolate

1204-524: The first Renaissance decorative motifs seen in French architecture. The names of three French builders are preserved in the documents: Colin Biart , Guillaume Senault and Louis Armangeart. Following the Italian War of 1494–1495 , Charles brought Italian architects and artisans to France to work on the château, and turn it into "the first Italianate palace in France". Among the people Charles brought from Italy

1247-579: The future French Francis II . In 1560, during the French Wars of Religion , a conspiracy by members of the Huguenot House of Bourbon against the House of Guise that virtually ruled France in the name of the young Francis II was uncovered by Francis, Duke of Guise and stifled by a series of hangings, which took a month to carry out. By the time it was finished, 1,200 Protestants were gibbetted , strung from

1290-455: The master's life and his work completed in the town. The number of visitors to Château du Clos Lucé, for example, was estimated as 500,000 in 2019, a 30% increase over the typical annual number. The city is known for the Clos Lucé manor house where Leonardo da Vinci lived (and ultimately died) at the invitation of King Francis I of France , whose Château d'Amboise , which dominates the town,

1333-414: The necessary castle fortifications built in the 10th century but also the splendour of those built half a millennium later. When the French kings began constructing their huge châteaux here, the nobility, not wanting or even daring to be far from the seat of power, followed suit. Their presence in the lush, fertile valley began attracting the very best landscape designers. In addition to its many châteaux,

Loire Valley - Misplaced Pages Continue

1376-609: The north bank of the Loire, has rail connections to Orléans , Blois and Tours . Clovis I ( c. 466 – 511) and the Visigoths signed a peace treaty of alliance with the Arvernians in 503, which assisted him in his defeat of the Visigothic kingdom in the Battle of Vouillé in 507. Joan of Arc passed through in 1429 on her way to Orleans to the Battle of Patay . Château du Clos Lucé

1419-407: The region ranked eighth in France in terms of economic performance producing 5.0% of the gross domestic product. Important economic sectors included leather goods, textile, shipyard/construction and aeronautics, agriculture and food-processing as well as the plastics industry . The EC did not produce a report for the larger Loire Valley region. According to another source, tourism in the Loire Valley

1462-400: The second half of the 16th century and the majority of the interior buildings were later demolished, but some survived and have been restored, along with the outer defensive circuit of towers and walls. It has been recognised as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1840. The Château d'Amboise was built on a spur above the river Loire . The strategic qualities of

1505-468: The site were recognised before the medieval construction of the castle, and a Gallic oppidum was built there. In the late 9th century Ingelger was made viscount of Orléans and through his mother was related to Hugh the Abbot , tutors to the French kings. Ingelgarius married Adelais of Amboise , a member of a prominent family (a bishop and archbishop were her uncles) who controlled Château d'Amboise. He

1548-498: The town walls, hung from the iron hooks that held pennants and tapestries on festive occasions and from the very balcony of the Logis du Roy . The Court soon had to leave the town because of the smell of corpses. The abortive peace of Amboise was signed at Amboise on 12 March 1563, between Louis I, Prince of Condé , who had been implicated in the conspiracy to abduct the king, and Catherine de' Medici . The "edict of pacification", as it

1591-452: Was Pacello da Mercogliano who designed the gardens at the Châteaux of Ambois and Blois ; his work was highly influential amongst French landscape designers. Charles died at Château d'Amboise in 1498 after he hit his head on a door lintel. Before his death he had the upper terrace widened to hold a larger parterre and enclosed with latticework and pavilions; his successor, Louis XII , built

1634-508: Was convicted of plotting against Louis XI and condemned to be executed in 1431. However, the King pardoned him but took his château at Amboise. Once in royal hands, the château became a favourite of French kings, from Louis XI to Francis I . Charles VIII decided to rebuild it extensively, beginning in 1492 at first in the French late Gothic Flamboyant style and then after 1495 employing two Italian mason-builders, Domenico da Cortona and Fra Giocondo , who provided at Amboise some of

1677-414: Was in such a ruinous state that the engineer appointed by Napoleon decided that it was not worth preserving and had it demolished. The remaining stonework was used to repair the Château d'Amboise. Some 60 years later (and 330 years after Leonardo's death and original burial), the foundational site of the Chapel of St Florentin was excavated: it is alleged that a complete skeleton was found, with fragments of

1720-558: Was later made Count of Anjou and his rise can be attributed to his political connections and reputation as a soldier. The Château d'Amboise would pass through Ingelger and Adelais' heirs, and he was succeeded by their son, Fulk the Red . As Fulk the Red expanded his territory, Amboise, Loches , and Villentrois formed the core of his possessions. Amboise lay on the eastern frontier of the Angevins holdings. Amboise and its castle descended through

1763-476: Was supported by over 700 hotels and 550 restaurants in the region. In addition to the chateaux and some 700 other listed Historic monuments, attractions included three Regional nature Parks, 550 km of cycling tracks, 800 listed Historic monuments, over 100 museums and 30 golf courses. In April 2019, The Guardian 's travel section included one Loire Valley location in its list of 20 of the most beautiful villages in France : Montrésor , "a fairytale village with

Loire Valley - Misplaced Pages Continue

1806-427: Was termed, authorised Protestant services only in chapels of seigneurs and justices, with the stipulation that such services be held outside the walls of towns. Neither side was satisfied by this compromise, nor was it widely honoured. Amboise never returned to royal favour. At the beginning of the 17th century, the huge château was all but abandoned when the property passed into the hands of Gaston, Duke of Orléans ,

1849-403: Was the residence of Leonardo da Vinci between 1516 and his death in 1519. Da Vinci died in the arms of King Francis I, and he was buried in a crypt near the Château d'Amboise . The house has lost some of its original parts, but it still stands today containing a museum of da Vinci's work and inventions, and overlooks the river Loire . The Amboise conspiracy was the conspiracy of Condé and

#394605