The Château de Hohbarr (Haut-Barr) is a medieval castle, first built in 1100, above the city of Saverne in what is now the French département of Bas-Rhin. It was built on sandstone rock 460m above the valley of Zorn and the plain of Alsace. Because of this, it has been called the eye of Alsace.
The current castle was built in 1583 by Jean de Manderscheid. The Peace of Westphalia mandated the destruction of several castles, including Hohbarr, but after the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession, in 1701, the fortress was back in use. It was abandoned around 1770, but the vault continued to be occupied until the French Revolution.
The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.