Château de Chaumont, Chaumont-sur-Loire, France

The Château de Chaumont was founded in the 10th century by Odo I, Count of Blois. The purpose was to protect his lands from attacks from his feudal rivals, Fulk Nerra, Count of Anjou. On his behalf the Norman Gelduin received it, improved it and held it as his own. His great-niece Denise de Fougère, having married Sulpice d'Amboise, passed the château into the Amboise family for five centuries.

Pierre d'Amboise unsuccessfully rebelled against King Louis XI and his property was confiscated, and the castle was dismantled on royal order in 1465. It was later rebuilt by Charles I d'Amboise from 1465–1475 and then finished by his son, Charles II d'Amboise de Chaumont from 1498–1510, with help from his uncle, Cardinal Georges d'Amboise; some Renaissance features were to be seen in buildings that retained their overall medieval appearance. The château was acquired by Catherine de Medici in 1550. There she entertained numerous astrologers, among them Nostradamus. When her husband, Henry II, died in 1559 she forced his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, to exchange Château de Chaumont for Château de Chenonceau which Henry had given to de Poitiers. Diane de Poitiers only lived at Chaumont for a short while.

Later Chaumont has changed hands several times. Paul de Beauvilliers bought the château in 1699, modernized some of its interiors and decorated it with sufficient grandeur to house the duc d'Anjou on his way to become king of Spain in 1700. Monsieur Bertin demolished the north wing to open the house towards the river view in the modern fashion.

In 1750, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray purchased the castle as a country home where he established a glassmaking and pottery factory. He was considered the French "Father of the American Revolution" because he loved America. However, in 1789, the new French Revolutionary Government seized Le Ray's assets, including his beloved Château de Chaumont.

The castle has been classified as a Monument historique since 1840 by the French Ministry of Culture. The Château de Chaumont is currently a museum and every year hosts a Garden Festival from April to October where contemporary garden designers display their work in an English-style garden.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

BJ Lubbers - De Vet (4 months ago)
Parking (at Parking Sud) was free. Friendly and helpful staff at both the castle and gardens. Even though it was a Sunday with fair weather, it wasn't too busy and there weren't any waiting times whatsoever. The castle was impressive to see (especially from the outside). For my personal taste, there was a bit too much of an emphasis on modern art instead of the castle's history, but it was still worth visiting the building. The gardens (garden festival) was beautiful and we'd absolutely recommend going there.

Eddie Sykes-Blythe (5 months ago)
We have to say. Wow. What a great experience. The gardens are outstanding and so diverse. The Chateau is beautiful and please do not miss out the stables visit. A long walk around the gardens is a must and well worth the effort to take it all in. We will visit again for sure

freewheelindave (6 months ago)
The custodians at this Château really go out of their way to make history come alive. Respectful, multilingual, extremely knowledgeable they assisted me with my quizzing, while working to dust the showcases and ensure the displays were very well managed. They really made the history of the already very interesting Château meaningful. A great place to visit, large garden, many artworks, (I particularly enjoyed Quayola's digital work), friendly cafe staff, and well furnished, labelled and restored Château. Visit you'll not regret a moment . 6 star experience.

MG B (7 months ago)
As other reviewers have stated, there is a festival garden displaying various art installations, also contemporary artist exhibits in the barns and the chateau , there are some traditional rooms with period furniture. The chateau is wonderfully preserved overlooking the Loire, there are cafe areas and a restaurant inside the grounds. It was interesting to see a different use of the chateau and grounds as a large Art gallery, you could spend hours here, the staff were really friendly, it never felt too busy wandering around.

Anastasia McLain (7 months ago)
Not my favourite in the region, but worth visiting especially for its huge gardens! It currently has a garden competition which showcases the mini garden designs of the winners. Very nice!

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These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.

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