Loire Valley Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau

Loire Valley - Château d’Azay le Rideau in La Vallee de la Loire

The Château d’Azay le Rideau in the Loire Valley was inspired by the Italian style and French Renaissance style and was built between 1518 and 1523 by Gilles Berthelot and his wife Philippa Lesbahy, it is one of the most beautiful buildings from the first French Renaissance period.

The château is one of the finest examples of French architecture in the 16th century whether in the Loire Valley or elsewhere in Europe. It was built by Gilles Berthelot, whose wife, Philippa, directed the work. It is partly constructed on piles, and projects out into the Indre River. It is an elegant Renaissance building, two storeys high, with turrets and angular pointed roofs, surrounded by a wooded park.

The first medieval castle of Château d’Azay-le-Rideau was built around 1119 by one of the first Lords, a knight of King Philippe August on a place called Ridel or Rideau d’Azay. It was built as a stronghold to protect the route between Tours and Chinon.

Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau - Loire Valley

In 1418 this castle was burned down by Charles VII when Bourguigon troups, were stationed in it, provoked him. The captain and 350 soldiers were executed and up until the 19th century, the village was known as Azay-le-Brûlé.

After building the castle in 1523, Gilles Berthelot and his wife decided to leave it in 1527, when one of their cousins, Jacques de Beaume Baron of Semblançay, was executed for embezzlement, although he was later rehabilitated.

Gilles Berthelot died at Cambrai in 1529. The King confiscated the castle, but it was not until 1535, when the King gave it to one of his comrades-in-arms Antoine Raffin, that Philippa Lesbahy lost it definitively.

Antoinette, Antoine Raffin’s grand daughter, came to live in the castle in 1583 with her husband Guy de Saint-Gelois and embarked upon updating the decoration of the building.

Their son Arthus and his wife Françoise de Souvré (who later became Louis XIII’s governess) inherited the castle.

The Raffin Family and later, in 1751, their relatives the Vassé Family owned the castle until the French Revolution.

In 1791, Henry de Courtemanche sold the castle that was by now abandoned and derelict to the Marquis Charles de Biencourt, deputy of the noblesse at the Etats Generaux of 1789. The castle remained in the Biencourt Family for one hundred years. The Marquis made major changes, both inside and out, and gave the castle its present appearance.

The Marquis’ son, Armand-François-Marie (1773-1854), who was Mayor of Azay from 1825 to 1830, started the first major restoration of the castle. As early as 1840 the castle was listed, but two new angle towers overlooking the courtyard were built on its demolished medieval ruins. The King of Prussia’s nephew, Prince Frederic Charles of Prussia, stayed at the castle in 1870, with his soldiers occupying the village of Saint-Patrice and the Château of Rochecotte nearby.

Armand-Marie-Antoine Marquis de Biencourt (1802-1862) was an important collector and took great care of his castle, with the help of his wife Anne-Elie-Marie de Montmorency’s fortune. It was at the time one of the most beautiful museums in France that was open to visitors. But in 1898, the 4th Marquis after a reversal in his fortunes caused by the stock market crash of Union Général, had to sell the castle, his furniture and land. It was bought by businessman, Achille Arteau, who wanted to break it up for a profit.

The castle stayed empty until 1905, at which point the State bought it. Now, it is managed by the Centre des Monuments nationaux.

Much of the furniture, paintings, objets d’art was sold, although some were bought back by the family, such as the 52 pieces in the portrait collection that the vicomtesse of Montaigne de Poncins, great grand daughter of the Marquis, later offered, in 1939, to the Musée Condé de Chantilly. These portraits had been painted by Clouet, Corneille de Lyon, Holbein, Memling, Pourbus, Cranach, Rubens, Stella.

The 19th century novelist Balzac described the castle as “Un diamant taillé à facettes serti par l’Indre” (A multi-faceted diamond set in the Indre). Azay-le-Rideau is one of the best known of Châteaux of the Loire Valley.

Architecture

Chateau d'Azay from the Gardens - Loire Valley

Although the entrance to the chateau is monumental, the building itself, which is surrounded by the Indre, is relatively compact. In the middle of the water, with its angled towers, it ressembles a fortified castle, except for the fact that its large mullioned windows and sculptured facades betray its Renaissance period.

One of the most striking elements in the castle is its monumental staircase. It is lavishly decorated and overlooks the courtyard and the park from adorned loggias.

Inside, the setting is that of a Renaissance castle, with lavishly sculpted decorations. Several rooms of the castle have exposed sixteenth and seventeenth century Flemish tapestries from the Flemish Renaissance Period. There are several ‘salons’ and ceremonial appartments decorated in the neo-Renaissance style of the nineteenth century.

In the ‘salon’ with its immense fireplace decorated with a salamader, you can see royal portraits from the Renaissance period and from the seventeenth century. Among these portraits are Anne of Austria, the sister of Charles Quint, Catherine of Medicis and Diane of Poitiers from the studios of King François 1.

The library with its magnificent panelling, features an impressive collection of engravings and drawings that show the many restorations done by the Biencourt Family.

In the royal appartments, there are portraits of a number of French Kings, such as François 1, Henri III or Louis XIII.

The gardens were transformed in the nineteen century into a large landscaped park by the Biencourts, with an ornamental lake in which the castle is reflected.
Opening Hours (to be confirmed)

Every day
October to March: 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
April, May, June and September: 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
July and August: 9.30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The last ticket will be sold 45 minutes before closing time

Closed
The first of January, the first of May and the 25th of December

Admission Prices 2011

Adult rate : 8 €
Reduced rate : 5 €
Adult group rate : 6 € (minimum 20 persons)
School group rate : 30 € (maximum 35 students, 2 accompanying adults included, adult group rate for additional accompanying adult)

Free admission :
Minors under 18 (family visit)
18-25 years old (for people under 26 years old who are citizens of one the 27 countries of EU or are non-European permanent residents of France)
Disabled visitors and their escorts
Unemployed persons

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