Château de Montsoreau
The Château de Montsoreau is a Renaissance style castle directly built in the Loire riverbed in the market town of Montsoreau, in the Maine-et-Loire département of France, in close proximity to Saumur, Chinon, Fontevraud-L'abbaye et Candes-Saint-Martin. It is strategically situated between Angers, Tours and Poitiers. The château de Montsoreau has an exceptional position at the confluence of two rivers, the Loire and the Vienne, and at the meeting point of three historic regions: Anjou, Poitou and Touraine. A Gallo-Roman settlement has been attested for Montsoreau but not confirmed as for the castle, even if a fluted column made of stone coming from a Gallo-Roman temple or a public building was found in the moat during the restoration works of the end of XXth century. The first written sources are from the VIth century with the domain of Restis, but it is only with the construction of a fortress at the end of the Xth century that the market town will raise and begin to be prosperous. One part of this first castle has been evidently found during the same restoration works by the archaeologists. The château was reconstructed in a Renaissance style between 1450 and 1460 by Jean de Chambes one of the kingdom's wealthiest men, a senior councillor and chamberlain to King Charles VII and to King Louis XI. The château de Montsoreau has been immortalised by Alexandre Dumas in his novel La Dame de Monsoreau written between 1845 and 1846. This novel is the second part of a trilogy on Renaissance, between La Reine Margot and Les Quarante-cinq. Unlike others châteaux of the Loire Valley, Montsoreau is the only one that has been built in the Loire riverbed. The château de Montsoreau has been listed as a Heritage Site by the French State in 1862. The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since November the 30th 2000.
History
Alexandre Dumas's novel La Dame de Monsoreau is based upon the amorous escapades of two ladies who occupied the castle during the reign of King Henri III.
By the end of the 19th century, the castle was abandoned and nearly in ruins. Today, having undergone extensive renovation, it is owned by the département and houses the Musée des Goums Marocains. So in the 20th century the castle became a museum during 50 years.
The Château de Montsoreau has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1862.[1] However, the photos from the French Cultural Ministry show it to be in significant disrepair with broken doors and windows and untended grounds.
Visitors to the castle can see a show with music and light and depicting activity in the river and the landscapes of the Loire, and the legend of its Dame de Montsoreau.
See also
References
- ↑ Monuments Historiques et Immeubles protégés sur Montsoreau (in French), www.annuaire-mairie.fr, retrieved 2012-04-23
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Château de Montsoreau. |
Coordinates: 47°12′56″N 0°03′44″E / 47.2156°N 0.0622°E
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