Loire valley castles and cultural tourism Chenonceaux Blere
CHATEAU DE VILLANDRY
VILLANDRY
Chateau de Villandry
37510 VILLANDRY
: 02 47 50 02 09
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Web Site : CHATEAU DE VILLANDRY
Villandry was completed toward 1536 and was the last of the large chateaus built in the Loire Valley during the Renaissance.
Villandry was built by Jean le Breton, one of François I's Finance Ministers, whose coat of arms can be seen on the gable of the left-hand dormer window.
His most impressive achievement in this field was the construction of Chambord, that vast flight of regal fancy, which Le Breton supervised under the aegis of François I. While directing this project, he built for himself nearby a small replica of Villandry called Villesavin near the Chambord chateau. Le Breton had first been ambassador to Italy where he spent all his time studying the Italian Renaissance art of gardening. In order to build the present chateau, Le Breton had razed an old XIIth century castle, from which he had only kept the old tower that can be seen behind the main courtyard.
Villandry stayed in le Breton family until 1754 and then became the property of the Marquis de Castellane, the King's Ambassador who came from a very illustrious noble family from Provence. He built the Classical style outbuildings that you can see on either side of the front courtyard. He redesigned the interior of the chateau to meet the standards of comfort of the XVIIIth century which are much closer to those we know today than to those, which were applied during the Renaissance.
