Loire Valley Excursions
Chateaux de Chambord © Chateaux de Chambord
Château de Chambord
Eleven miles (18km) east of Blois, the vast Château de
Chambord is the largest château in the Loire Valley. It was
commissioned by François I, who wanted to outshine the Holy
Roman Emperor Charles V, and the result is a spectacular
Renaissance masterpiece with 450 rooms. It was designed by an
Italian architect in 1519, but was worked on by French masons. The
outside is essentially French medieval - massive round towers with
conical tops, and an explosion of chimneys, pinnacles and turrets.
The details inside, however, are pure Italian: the Great Staircase
(attributed by some to da Vinci), panels of coloured marble, niches
decorated with shell-like domes, and freestanding columns.
Wandering through, you can get a good feel for the contrasting
architectural styles, which have combined to create a very
decadent, if at times discordant, whole. The château is
surrounded by a 20-mile (32km) wall containing a 5,261-hectare
(13,000-acre) deer park.
E-mail: chambord.accueil@wanadoo.fr;
Website: www.chambord.org;
Telephone: (0)2 5450 4000;
Opening time: Daily 9am to 6.15pm (1 April to 30 September); 9am to 5.15pm (1 October to 30 March). Closes at 7.30pm from July to August;
Admission: Adults: €8.50 (September to June); €9.50 (July to August)
