Loire Valley - Chateau de Brissac

The Loire Valley - The Château de Brissac

Brissac-Quincé is a French commune in the Maine-et-Loire District of the Loire Valley, and home to the Château de Brissac, which is situated fifteen kilometres from Angers and has been a listed building since 1958.

The chateau was built in the 11th century as a fortified castle, by the Count of Anjou, Foulques Nerra. King Philippe Auguste gave it to Guillaume des Roches after he defeated the English.

Chateau de Brissac - Loire Valley

In 1455, Pierre de Brézé a minister of King Charles VII, rebuilt it. It was subsequently inherited by his son, but after killing his adulterous wife in the castle, he left it.

It was bought in 1502 by René de Cossé who King François 1st had made governor of Maine and Anjou. The castle entered then the Cossé family who then changed their name to Brissac.

The castle was besieged during the Wars of Religion by Henri IV, as the Lord of the Castle Charles de Cossé was a supporter of the “Parti de la Ligue”. He later, however, decided to rally the King’s cause and was given the titles of Maréchal de France and Duke of Brissac. Under the supervision of the architect Jacques Corbineau, he undertook to rebuild the castle and it was at this point that it became an imposing building, in fact it was at the time the tallest castle in France. The influence of the baroque style can be seen from the front; it has seven floors and two hundred rooms.

The château remained in the Cossé-Brissac Family until 1792. During the French Revolution it served to station the ‘Bleus’ of Vendée. The revolutionaries later ransacked it and it remained in that derelict state until 1844. The castle was eventually returned to the Cossé-Brissac family who restored it and continue to occupy it today.

The Marquis de Brissac’s widow created a theatre in 1890, which was restored in 1983. Each year, the Festival de la Vallée de la Loire is organized in the Château.


Architecture of the Château de Brissac

Flanked by the two towers from the old 15th century castle, the front of the castle, which was built in the Louis XIII style remained unfinished as a result of the wars of religion. In these troubled times the castle was severely damaged and became uninhabitable for a long period.

Chateau de Brissac - Loire Valley

Work to rebuild it started in 1600. As the work on the building of the new castle progressed, the old one was destroyed. But in 1621 the first Duke died and the work was stopped and never resumed. So the history of the building of the castle, as the actual owner’s grandfather once said, is that “Brissac is a new castle half built in an old castle half-destroyed.”

The Grande Galerie, which is the principal room in the castle, is reserved for festivities. Prestigious receptions and candle-lit galas are held there. Its ceiling is covered with paintings of hundreds of small mythological and biblical subjects. The walls are ornate with tapestries by Aubusson from the 17th century.

The Portrait Gallery serves to exhibit several of the Cossé Brissac family ancestors. The most famous military man in the family is Charles de Cossé, friend of King François 1st. The Veuve Clicquot’s portrait is also exhibited there. Born under the reign of King Louis XVI she was a widow by the age of 27. She became famous for the Champagne firm she run and exported all over the world.

Charles de Cossé - Count of Brissac

In the Salon Doré there is the Charles Cossé double ‘C’ intertwined monogram of the first Duke of Brissac who rebuilt the castle in the 17th century.

There are also two portraits of the 12th Duke and his wife, painted by Bernard Boutet de Montvel, who painted the members of the high society of the time. He died tragically in 1949, in the same airplane accident as Marcel Cerdan the champion boxer and Ginette Neveu the violinist. The portrait of Louis Hercule de Cossé, 8th Duke of Brissac and the last Governor of Paris is also in the Salon Doré.

The Salle à Manger is still used for distinguished guests. The walls are festooned with the antlers of stags killed by the Duchess d’Uzès, whose daughter married the 11th Duke of Brissac.

The Louis the XIII bedroom was given this name in memory of the King’s visit in August 1620. He was 19 at the time and used to quarrel a lot with Marie de Medicis, his mother. She had being regent during his minority and had taken as advisers a scheming Italian couple. When he was 16 the King ordered their assassination and exiled his mother, who took residence up in Angers. But Marie de Medicis couldn’t accept this and conspired against the King, her son. A battle of her troops against her son’s troops took place on the banks of the river Loire. She was defeated and was forced to negotiate with the King.

Brissac acted as Headquarter for The Royal Troops, and it is here that is celebrated the reconciliation between the Queen Mother Marie de Medicis and her son King Louis XIII. A show case recreating the scene, shows Louis XIII, Marie de Medicis, the Duke of Brissac as well as the future Cardinal de Richelieu.

The Chambre des Chasses is a room decorated with extraordinary Flemish tapestries from the 16th century with designs of animals and hunting scenes, that once belonged to two Kings of France, Louis XIV and Louis Philippe. The tapestries, depict the various hunting techniques used in the 16th century.

Loire Valley - Chateau de Brissac - Theatre

The most striking room is the Theatre built by Jeanne Say, who had a passion for opera and was a gifted opera singer. But as her social position did not allow her to perform in public, she decided to perform in the privacy of her own castle. The Théatre was inaugurated in 1890. She performed there every year until her death in 1916. The Festival was held every September and was named: ‘Les Séries d’Automne du Château de Brissac’

The park is criss-crossed with walks which lead visitors to the Mausoleum, in which the members of the family have been buried since the beginning of the 19th century.

Opening hours of the Chateau de Brissac:
From April to June and Sept-Oct:
10.00 am – 12h15 pm, 2.00 pm – 6.00 pm
Everyday except on Tuesdays
July and August:
10.00 am – 6.00 pm
Everyday
November to March:
Contact the Chateau

Last departure 30 minutes before closing time

How to get to the Chateau de Brissac

From Paris :by car : 3h
300 km by motorway (A11) By train : 1h30TGV (high speed train) between Paris-Montparnasse and Angers

From Tours :

by car : 1h20
145 km by motorway A85

International airports
Nantes-Atlantique: 120 km by motorway A11
Angers-Marcé : 40 km

 Other Chateaux in the Loire Valley
Chateau de Chenonceau
Chateau de Chambord