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The Château de Montsoreau is a castle constructed in 1455 by Jean de Chambes, a senior councillor to King Charles VII. Erected on the bank of the Loire river, it was a strategic fortress, controlling river traffic between Chinon and Saumur. In fact the castle of Montsoreau has an exceptional position at the confluence of two rivers, the Loire and the Vienne, and at the meeting point of three historic regions: Anjou, Poitou and Touraine. Unlike other castles by the Loire, Montsoreau was directly built in the river.
By the end of the 19th century, the castle was abandoned and in near ruins. Today, having undergone extensive renovation, it is owned by the département and houses the Musée des Goums Marocains. In the 20th century the castle became a museum during 50 years.
The Château de Montsoreau has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1862. However, the photos from the French Cultural Ministry show it to be in significant disrepair with broken doors and windows and untended grounds. Visitors to the castle can see a show with music and light and depicting activity in the river and the landscapes of the Loire, and the legend of its Dame de Montsoreau.
Alexandre Dumas's novel La Dame de Monsoreau is based upon the amorous escapades of two ladies who occupied the castle during the reign of King Henri III.
References:Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.
The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).