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Castle of the Loire Valley : ABBAYE DE FONTEVRAUD
Founded in 1101 by Robert d'Arbrissel and ruled over for centuries by the most powerful of abbesses, the Abbey of Fontevraud was,
before the Revolution, the richest and most important monastery in France. During the 12th century, the abbey gained great prestige.
It was favoured by the support of the Plantagenet family, Counts of Anjou and Kings of England. The Abbess was answerable only to
the Pope in spiritual matters and the King in temporal affairs. Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard the Lionheart and Isabelle
d'Angoulème (widow of John Lackland - King John) are buried at Fontevraud. Their recumbent statues, which rested on their
tombs can still be seen today and show their influence on the Abbey dynasty. The Abbey church is as majestic as a cathedral and
was edified at the beginning of the 12th century built on the foundation of a first church of more modest dimensions. Its Roman
faÁade was renewed in 1504 in a more flamboyant style, but converted back to its original state in 1901 by the architect Lucien Magne.
Castle of the Loire Valley : CHINON
The castle of Chinon Dominating the river Vienne, the plate of Chinon finishes out of spur, almost to touch the river. This spur,
strengthened as of the Romans, knows during ten centuries a confused and tragic history. Three Masters in the art of the fortifications
especially left their print on the extremely current castle : two kings of England, Henri II and Richard Lion Heart, a king of France,
Philippe Auguste. This is in 1205, after an eight month old siege, that this last removed the place to Plantagenêts. With Charles VII
begins, for Chinon, a page of history. Charles VII is only the « roi de Bourges » when, in 1427, he installs his small court in Chinon.
In 1429, Jeanne d'Arc distinguishes the true Charles VII dissimulated in the mob a courtier adorned his dress in the large room
illuminated of 50 torches. Of this room, it still have the monumental cheminey. The King gives her weapons and soldiers and she leaves
on April 20, 1429 to achieve her miraculous and tragic destiny.
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Castle of the Loire Valley : USSÉ
Ussé is caracteristic of architecture between two worlds, the modern Middle Ages and renaissance times. Semi fortress,
semi-castle of approvals. Built in XVe, XVIe et XVIIe centuries by Bueil et Epinay families the castle changes to a magnificent
private pleasure castle. Antoine de Bueil, Seigneur d' Ussé en 1456 married in 1462 Jeanne de Valois, the daughter of Charles VII
et d'Agnès Sorel. But he have to sell the castle to Jacques d'Espinay. Nowdays, he belongs to the marquis de Blacas,
grandchildren of the founder of Egyptian muséum of the Louvre. The castle would have inspired Charles Perrault for « La Belle au bois dormant ».
Castle of the Loire Valley : AZAY LE RIDEAU
With the Middle Ages, the lords of Tours build a castle on an island in the medium of the Indre river to protect the passage from the
road carrying out of Tours to Chinon. In 1119, the lord Ridel of Azay gives to the city his name of Azay le Rideau.
With the end of XVth century, Martin Berthelot, « maître de la Chambre aux deniers » (a kind of Minister for Finance) of the king, buy
the castle and bequeaths it to his son Gilles Berthelot who inherits this strengthened residence, little before the battle of Marignan (1515).
Gilles Berthelot begins the modifications from the building by expressing his passion for the Italian Renaissance. He makes build two other
homes with four turns which give to the old fortress her form in « L ». This building inaugurates the era residences of pleasure which combine
the attractiveness of the French castles with the majesty of the Italian palates. The architectural plan evolves thus around a vast luminous
court. The water, which insulates the building, then takes a dominating place in the harmony of the unit.
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