The Château de Gizeux is originally dating from the Middle Ages, but much altered over the centuries. Archives indicate the existence of a wooden fortress built in the 11th century in the actual place of the castle. The most remote constructions that we can find nowadays are the entry tower, the right wing and the enclosure. The château belonged to the family of the poet Joachim du Bellay from 1315 to 1660. Later it became the property of several marquises of Gizeux from the family of Contades.
In 1789, during the French Revolution, Prince Louis Gabriel de Contades (1759-1825), opposing the revolutionaries, had to flee from French soil and find refuge in Saint-Domingue. He returned to Gizeux in 1801.
Gizeux represents the mixed medieval and Renaissance style. The château has two large galleries of paintings: the Galerie François Ier (François I) decorated with Italian paintings from the start of the 17th century, and the Grande Galerie des Châteaux decorated with late 17th century paintings.
The park was established in 1829. Nearby a church houses the Du Bellays' splendid tombs. The extremely rare 17th century orants were made of white marble by Ghislain (known as Cambrai), director of the Académie royale de peinture et sculpture in Paris. The Château de Gizeux has been listed since 1945 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
References:The Clementinum is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the City Library also being located nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. The Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická 6 since 2009. It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic.
Its history dates from the existence of a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.