Amboise Castle

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View of the castle from the northwest
Aerial view of the castle from the south

The Amboise Castle ( French Château dʼAmboise ) is located in the small town of Amboise in central France in the Indre-et-Loire department of the Center-Val de Loire region . The castle, built on a rocky plateau above the city and the Loire , is one of the most important castles of the Loire in terms of cultural history and was often a royal residence in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is since 1840 as a classified monument historique under monument protection .

First the complex was a Gallic oppidum , then a Roman castellum , before the fortifications were expanded and reinforced in the 10th century. It experienced its greatest heyday in the 15th century under the French King Charles VIII , who considerably enlarged the area of ​​the complex and made it his main residence. From 1495 onwards, Amboise was given the first Renaissance garden in France by an Italian landscape architect . Subsequent monarchs expanded the castle further, so that in the middle of the 16th century, with its 247 rooms and three courtyards, it was the largest castle complex from the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance . Only a fraction of its structure has survived, however, and today it consists of a two-wing residential building ( Logis ), a castle chapel , some rooms at the level of the former basement levels and four round towers that stand at the corners of a long circular wall .

The complex attracted travelers and visitors as early as the 17th century. These were, for example, the Dane Peter Eisenberg (1614) and the English John Evelyn (1644), but above all many French such as Léon Godefroy (1638), François-Nicolas Baudot (1646–1647) or Jean de La Fontaine (1663) and Étienne Mignot de Montigny (1752). In contrast to them, who came to Amboise voluntarily, there were also many residents who took up quarters in the castle as prisoners of the French king. These included the brothers César and Alexandre de Bourbon , Nicolas Fouquet , Antonin Nompar de Caumont and Abd el-Kader . The facility is still open to visitors today and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the central Loire Valley . An interior museum has been set up in the Logis .

history

Previous buildings

From the Celtic oppidum to the first castle

The Promontoir des Châtelliers ( German  Châtelliers rock ) called plateau, on which the present castle stands, was settled at least since the Neolithic . For the Latènezeit an oppidum is there Turones vouched that in Gallo-Roman under the Latin name Ambacium was known. The Roman governor Anician had the area fortified by building a deep ditch on the east side in the 4th century, because it was strategically located at a ford of the Loire. Anician had this spanned with a wooden bridge, so that the novum castellum was of great importance. In 503, King Clovis I of West Franconia and Alaric II , King of the Visigoths, met on the Loire island of Saint-Jean (at that time called Île dʼOr ( German  Gold Island )) to a peace treaty.

In 853 and 877/878 Normans attacked Amboise and destroyed it. The Carolingian Ludwig der Stammler commissioned Ingelger , the Vice Count of Angers , to secure and defend Amboise against the Norman invaders, because the Vice Count had excelled in defending the Touraine . Ingelger had previously received the ruinous fortifications in Amboise from Adalhard, the bishop of Tours and uncle of his wife Adelais, and built a new castle on the rocky plateau around 882 . However, as early as 840 , Charles the Bald had given the place Amboise to the knight Aymon (also spelled Haimon) de Buzançais as his governor, so that from then on the first house of Anjou and the de Buzançais family fought for supremacy in Amboise.

Owned by the Counts of Anjou and the Amboise family

Drawing by François-Nicolas Baudot of Amboise and the Châtelliers rock, 1635 (north at the bottom of the picture); the two large moats in the east of the castle are clearly visible

Ingelger's son Fulko I became the first Count of Anjou and expanded his father's castle, but nothing of this complex has survived today. Through his son Fulko II , the castle came to Gottfried I around 958 , who had it secured by an additional moat . He then commissioned Landri de Dunois to guard the castle, but his vassal betrayed him to Odo I , the Count of Blois , with whom Gottfried's family had been fighting for dominance in Anjou for some time. Landri intended to hand Amboise over to the warring Count, but this was Gottfried's son Fulko III. in collaboration with the de Buzançais family. Fulko III. made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and brought relics with him on his return . From 1003 or 1004 onwards, he had the collegiate church Notre-Dame-Saint-Florentin-du-Château built in front of the castle as its place of storage and also had the remains of St. Florentine transferred there. After Fulko had the sacred building enlarged around 1030, it was elevated to a parish church in 1044 . As guardian of the castle and church, he installed Lisois de Bazougers. He married Hersende, the niece of Sulpice de Buzançais, who around 1015 had a stone residential tower built in the village at the foot of the castle . Lisois came into possession of this tower block through his marriage.

After the death of Fulkos III. continued his son Gottfried II. the fatherly fight against the Counts of Blois and 1044 could finally Theobald III. beat in the battle of Nouy . Lisois de Bazougers had stood by him, and Gottfried II rewarded him with part of the town of Amboise. Because Lisois had already owned large parts of the settlement through marriage and inheritance, he was henceforth the undisputed lord of Amboise, who was inherited by his son Sulpice I. He was no longer called de Bazougers, but dʼAmboise and had to witness how after the childless death of Count Gottfried II in 1060, his nephews from the house of Château-Landon fought over the county of Anjou. The castle in Amboise was damaged in the fighting and badly damaged by fire in 1069. Sulpice's son Hugues I had the castle rebuilt around 1115. The von Amboise family also had a dispute with their eastern neighbor from County Blois. Theobald V of Blois captured the son and grandson Hugues' I and occupied their castle. Sulpice II dʼAmboise died in captivity, but his son Hugues II regained his freedom on the intervention of Heinrich Plantagenet , then Count of Anjou and future King of England. Heinrich took from Theobald the castle Amboise he had conquered, had it reinforced and temporarily occupied by his own soldiers in 1157.

When the House of Amboise was divided into an older and a younger line at the beginning of the 14th century, Pierre I received Amboise, while his younger brother Hugues received the estates in Chaumont-sur-Loire . Since Pierre's son, Pierre II., Had no children when he died in 1422, the castle and Seigneurie Amboise went to his nephew, Louis, a son of Pierre II's brother Ingelger II. Because the new lord of the castle was involved in a plot against Georges de La Trémoille , a favorite of king Charles VII. , participated, he was sentenced to death in 1431 for treason and all his property by the crown confiscated . The king later pardoned him and changed the sentence to imprisonment, before Louis dʼAmboise was even released again in 1434 and - with a few exceptions - he was given back all of his confiscated possessions. One of the exceptions was the complex in Amboise, which the king finally incorporated into the crown domain in 1434.

Royal residence

Expansion under Louis XI.

Charles VII did not stay in Amboise very often, only three visits are recorded from him. And although the complex was no longer just a military fortress , but also a royal residence, it is not certain whether he had construction work carried out on the castle buildings. What is certain is that he rebuilt the roof and archive of the Notre-Dame-Saint-Florentin church, which had been destroyed by a fire in 1445, and had the bell tower equipped with a high, pointed helmet . It was not until Charles's successor Ludwig XI. began to expand the complex, although he preferred Plessis-lès-Tours as a residence for himself and his farm . On the one hand, he had the fortifications reinforced, and on the other, he saw to the construction of appropriate accommodation for his wife Charlotte von Savoyen and their children, Karl , Anne and Jeanne . Work on this began around 1463 and ended in 1468. First, old buildings were demolished to make way for new buildings. Then a new residential building was built on the southern edge of the complex next to a chapel , which was directly connected to the king's apartments. In addition, Ludwig XI. In 1466 the Garçonnet Tower ( Tour Garçonnet ) was built, a round tower on the western tip of the castle rock, inside of which a wide spiral staircase enabled pedestrians to easily climb from the foot of the rock to the castle plateau. Between him and the lodging was a kitchen wing, which - like the residential building - had wooden galleries on the courtyard side . In 1481, the king also had official access to the residence on its east side secured through the lion gate ( Porte des Lions ). At that time, the canons of the Church of Notre-Dame-Saint-Florentin had another access to the castle area, which consisted of a ramp with drawbridges driven through the rock . For fear of plague diseases in his family, Ludwig XI. however, the church closed to the residents of Amboise in 1471, forcing the clergy to leave the castle and move to the city. Two years earlier, on August 1, 1469, he had founded the Order of Michael in that church .

Main residence under Charles VIII.

The heir to the throne Charles VIII was born in Amboise in 1470 and spent a carefree childhood there. After ascending to the French throne in 1483, his young fiancée Margaret of Austria also resided in Amboise before she had to return to the Netherlands because Charles broke off the engagement to marry Anne de Bretagne in 1491 . As early as 1489, the king had thought of making Amboise his main residence and enlarging and redesigning the complex accordingly. That is why the first terracing work began on the rock that year. After his marriage, he put his plans into practice from around 1492. The expensive construction work was partly financed from the unpopular salt tax. Charles VIII spent 44,000  livres in 1492 for the expansion of the palace. The monarch wanted an appropriate and representative residence as soon as possible and urged the construction work to be as urgent as possible. Work was carried out on the construction site even at night and in winter. In 1494/1495 more than 170 bricklayers were employed there, supported by 70 to 90 workers. As builders were Colin Biart , Guillaume Senault , Louis Armangeart , Pierre Trinqueau and Jacques Sourdeau worked for the king. The building supervision was incumbent on Raymond de Dezest, who was Chamberlain of Charles VIII from 1491 and later Baillie von Amboise as well as Treasurer of France in Languedoc . As a sculptor, which are Flemish artist Casin d'Utrecht and Cornille de Nesve guaranteed. They were responsible for the sculptures of the new Hubertus chapel, which was built above the previous castle chapel until 1493. However, the new sacred building was only given this name in the 19th century. Until then, it was known as the King's Chapel ( Chapelle du Roi ), Donjon Chapel ( Chapelle du Donjon ) or simply New Chapel ( Chapelle Neuve ). It was directly connected to the rooms of the queen who, together with her husband, still lived in the lodgings built by her father-in-law. Charles VIII wanted to change this and from 1494 had the House of the Seven Virtues ( Logis des sept Vertus ) built on the south side . The building takes its name from allegorical terracotta - statues on its facade.

Charles VIII receives Franz von Paola and supports the convent he founded in Amboise, painting by an anonymous artist from the 17th century; Amboise Castle in the background

In 1494/1495, Charles VIII undertook a politically not particularly successful campaign in Italy. The wealth of the patrician palaces there and the pomp of court life in Italy impressed the king so much that he decided to create something comparable in France. When he returned to France, he not only brought numerous works of art and splendid furnishings for his residence to Amboise, but also brought 22 Italian artists, craftsmen, scholars and architects in his entourage , who participated in the further design of the castle. They were responsible for the beginning of the Renaissance in France. However, their influence on the appearance of the plant in Amboise was relatively small because the construction was already very advanced. The new style is only noticeable in a few places inside. An exception was the castle garden laid out on a terrace facing the Loire, the design of which, in all probability, Pacello da Mercogliano was entrusted with. The ornamental garden based on Italian models was the first Renaissance garden in France, but it also contained some fruit trees to supply the castle residents. The House of the Seven Virtues was already well advanced at that time, but it was not finally ready for occupancy until 1498. Originally intended as new accommodation for the king and queen as well as for public purposes, Karl made a decision after construction began and from around 1496 had another building with a large hall built on the northern edge of the castle plateau on the Loire side , the King's Logis ( Logis du Roi ). Perhaps Charles VIII's intention was to separate private and state affairs from one another. In addition, the monarch had two mighty round towers built with the Minimes Tower ( Tour des Minimes ) and from 1497 with the Heurtault Tower ( Tour Heurtault ) from around autumn 1495 . They had wide ramps inside that spiraled upwards and made it possible to reach the castle plateau on horseback and even by cart. These towers ( Tours cavalières ) may have been modeled on the tower with a rider ramp in Urbino Castle . Charles VIII planned a third tower of this type at the northeast corner of the palace garden in order to be able to comfortably reach the Paulaner convent at the foot of the palace, which he supported . The tower was never completed, only a few remains of stone testify to the project.

Amboise is becoming less important

Before the work on the castle was finished, the king had a fatal accident in 1498. His successor was the Duke of Orleans, who as Louis XII. ascended the throne. He preferred his birthplace Blois as his residence, where he moved in 1499 after his marriage to Anne de Bretagne, the widow of his predecessor. The royal couple rarely stayed in Amboise. King Luise of Savoy and her two children Margarete and Franz , the designated heir to the throne , left the castle . While Louis XII. In Blois, major alterations and extensions were made, but in Amboise he limited himself to continuing the plans of his predecessor in a simplified form from 1500/1501. The builder Gatien Fordebraz had the king's lodgings completed and the Heurtault tower completed by 1503. In addition, the palace gardens were completed under him and a gallery was built on its north side.

Only after Francis I ascended the throne did the castle flourish again. The young king grew up in Amboise and spent the first three years of his reign there with his wife Claude de France , during which, from 1515, he added one storey to a wing of the king's lodgings and had the interior redesigned. When the work was completed, the building housed the royal couple's apartments, while the House of Seven Virtues was only used to accommodate guests and courtiers. The building supervision was in the hands of François de Pontbriant and Antoine de Troyes, who were later also responsible for the construction of Chambord Castle . At the same time, the king organized large celebrations, hunting parties, tournaments and masked balls, for example on the occasion of the wedding of Anton II of Lorraine to Renée de Bourbon-Montpensier, at the baptism of the heir to the throne Francis II on April 25, 1518 and at the marriage of Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergnes with the Duke of Urbino , Lorenzo de 'Medici . The king promoted art and called famous artists and scholars to his court. In 1516 Leonardo da Vinci came to Amboise and spent his last years in the nearby manor house Le Clos Lucé before he was buried in the church on the castle grounds in 1519. But then the monarch's interest turned to other royal castles, for example Blois, Fontainebleau , Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Chambord. The Queen Mother lived in Amboise until her death in 1531, but after that the facility was practically unused. In 1539 Francis I had all the furniture removed and moved to other castles, which is why new furnishings had to be quickly brought in on the occasion of a visit by Emperor Charles V in December of the same year. The festival held in his honor was also the last major festival that the castle saw.

Gradual decline

Hardly used, then state prison

View of the castle by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau , before 1579

Only when Catherine de Medicis moved in did new life come to the neglected complex. After Franz's death, his son Henry II became the new king of France. His wife Katharina discovered Amboise for herself and moved into the new wing of the king's lodgings, which she enlarged with additions. For example, a pavilion-like extension was built on the courtyard side at the level of the first floor and stood on four stone pillars . For the king and his children, a new building was built in the eastern part of the garden parallel to the wing inhabited by Katharina. However, the Queen should not remain the undisputed Mistress of Amboise. Diane de Poitiers , Henry II's mistress , planned to build a palace directly to the east of the castle in front of the Lion Gate and bought land for it. But she never put the building project into practice. It was the same with the royal family's plan to make the entire castle more uniform. Before the realization could begin, Henry II died in July 1559, and the crown fell to his only 15-year-old son Francis II. During his reign, in the course of the French Wars of Religion in 1560, the Huguenot- instigated conspiracy of Amboise took place had the aim of removing the young king from the influence of his Catholic advisers. The conspirators were found in the woods around Amboise, overwhelmed and then executed without mercy. The royal family attended the executions, but left the castle under the impression of bloodshed and later stayed rarely in Amboise. In 1563 Catherine de Medici signed there as regent for her second son, Charles IX. the Edict of Amboise , which ended the first Huguenot War. However, it was the last government act of the French crown in Amboise, after which the facility was only used as a military base and as a prison.

After Heinrich III. of France in December 1588 while the Estates General in Blois had murdered the Duke of Guise and his brother Louis , he had relatives of theirs such as the Duke of Elbeuf and the Cardinal of Bourbon imprisoned in Amboise. King Heinrich IV only stayed at the castle for short hunting trips, as did his successor Ludwig XIII. only stayed there for short hunting trips. From the spring of 1624 the Chief Financial Officer , Charles I. de La Vieuville , was imprisoned in Amboise for 13 months, and after the conspiracy of the Count of Chalais, Henri de Talleyrand , the king sent the two sons involved, Gabrielle d'Estrées ʼ, César and Alexandre de Bourbon, on June 10, 1616, in the prisons that were housed in the large round towers. In 1627, Louis XIII. the system as an apanage to his brother Gaston d'Orléans , but he didn't care. After the Journée des dupes in November 1630, in which Gaston had belonged to the defeated Parti dévot , the castle was captured by royal soldiers on April 5, 1631 on the orders of Cardinal Richelieu and then razed . It is possible that during these measures the two smaller round towers, the Garçonnet Tower and the Tour Pleine , were torn down to their present level at the level of the courtyard. The softened plant then came into the care of the Marshal of France , Gaspard III. de Coligny , given. After Gaston's death in 1660, the castle, which was no longer habitable, fell back into the crown domain and served again as a state prison. The under Louis XI. The buildings erected in the western area of ​​the castle plateau had already been laid down at that time. Among the prominent prisoners under Louis XIV was his former finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, who came to Amboise in December 1661 before he was transferred to the fortress of Pinerolo. The Duke of Lauzun later spent a few years exiled from the court there before the king pardoned him.

Property of the Dukes of Choiseul and Penthièvre

Plan of the palace complex by Robert de Cotte with the building stock from 1718

In 1714, Louis XIV gave the palace complex as a Wittum to the wife of his late grandson Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans , the Duchess of Berry. At that time, however, the buildings were in a poor structural condition due to lack of maintenance and the inner ditch had disappeared. After the death of the king, the regent commissioned Louis XV. , who was also the father of Marie Louise Élisabeth, the architect Robert de Cotte with an inventory of the castle and an assessment of the needs for repairs and conversions. The estimated repair costs alone amounted to 433,000  livres , the additional renovation costs were an estimated 454,000 livres. Accordingly, Amboise Castle was not rebuilt, but rather neglected and the Dowager Duchess was replaced by Louis XV. the Château de Meudon awarded as a substitute. The dilapidated complex, including the barony and forest of Amboise, came to the Duke of Choiseul on March 25, 1763 , who had already acquired the nearby Chanteloup Castle around two years earlier, on February 24, 1761 . He received the property in exchange for other of his lands, including the Marquisate Pompadour and Choiseul , and the king made him Duke of Choiseul-Amboise on January 10, 1764. However, he never lived in the castle, but resided in Chanteloup. He left some of the Amboise castle buildings to a few entrepreneurs, who set up a factory for iron goods and jewelery as well as a silk weaving mill there. The Duke himself used the western building between the House of Seven Virtues and the Hubertus Chapel as a button manufacture from 1772. The palace garden was also redesigned through the demolition of its gallery and the replacement of the compartments with linden trees in a Quinconce arrangement in 1779 .

When Choiseul died in May 1785, the Crown bought the entire Duchy of Choiseul-Amboise from his widow and sold it - together with Vernon and Bizy in Normandy  - on July 20, 1786 in exchange for the Principality of Dombes and an additional 4,060,000 livres to Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon , Duke of Penthièvre . The richest nobleman of his time - he owned more than 20 castles and mansions  - had dengo castle buildings repairs and changes made to improve living comfort by 1790. New apartments were set up in the king's lodgings for the new lord of the castle and his family, including one for his widowed daughter-in-law Marie-Louise of Savoy-Carignan . On the ground floor of the Minimes tower, rooms were created for his daughter Louise Marie Adélaïde , who was Duchess of Orléans through marriage to Louis-Philippe II. Joseph de Bourbon . The renovations paid little attention to the existing building structure: In the large hall, for example, the columns and the vault were removed and the room was divided up with partition walls. Study rooms were set up in a pavilion in the building and the building has been called Penthièvre Pavilion ( Pavillon Penthièvre ) since that time . In addition, the Duke had an English landscape garden laid out in the area of ​​the former outer bailey, which was redesigned again in 1815. A small pavilion was built on the Garçonnet tower and various walls as well as wall remnants and parts of the western residential buildings were laid down in order to preserve a large esplanade in the western area of ​​the palace area.

Partial demolition in Napoleonic times

In contrast to many other aristocratic residences in France, the French Revolution had little impact on Amboise Castle. A fire in 1789 only damaged part of the House of Seven Virtues. When the Duke of Penthièvre died in March 1793, his daughter Louise Marie Adélaïde inherited the property. After she was arrested in Paris the following April, her castle in Amboise was confiscated on November 22, 1793 for sale. After the collegiate church was closed, the clergy were expelled. But because the republic needed the facility as a prison and veterans' dormitory, the revolutionary government dropped its sales plans. After the Duchess of Orléans, now called "Widow Égalité", was released on August 31, 1795, she even got the castle back in 1797, although she lost it again in the coup on September 4, 1797. In 1803 the king's lodgings went to the city, which established a secondary school there. In the same year, however, Napoleon gave the castle as the seat of a senatorium to his consulate companion Roger Ducos , who officially took possession of it in November 1803. He wanted to make the very shabby complex his main residence, but did not have sufficient financial means to have all the dilapidated buildings repaired and maintained. He therefore had various buildings abandoned between 1806 and 1810, including the House of the Seven Virtues (1806/1807), the former Queen's lodge next to the Hubertus Chapel and the Romanesque collegiate church with Leonardo da Vinci's grave (1807), because she "blocked his view". The wing of Henry II also fell victim to the demolition. Ducos only left the king's lodgings because he wanted to use it as an apartment, but removed the additions from the time of Catherine de Medici. He sold the material obtained during the demolition and used the proceeds for work on the part of the castle that was preserved. From 1808, this included not only modernization of the lodging, but also the conversion of the former residence for the canons into horse stables and a coach house as well as the extension and modification of the landscaped garden by the architect Thomas Pierre Baraguay . Duco's residence was only ready for occupancy in April 1811. At the end of the First Empire , the senatoria were dissolved in July 1814, and Ducos lost the property, which the Duchess of Orléans, who had returned from exile in Spain, received back on September 1. However, Napoleon's reign of the Hundred Days once again interrupted the power of the House of Orléans to dispose of the palace complex, which from April 1815 served as an arms and ammunition store.

Restorations

Repairs under King Louis-Philippe

Amboise Castle after the first restoration under Louis-Philippe dʼOrléans

Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre was only able to dispose of the property again after the Restoration by decree of February 8, 1816. She had the palace refurnished, but with the exception of July 1818, she never stayed there. After her death in 1821, her son, who later became King Louis-Philippe , inherited the castle and all of its possessions. However, he never used it as a residence. When a piece of the wall collapsed in 1824 and the falling rubble had killed two residents of Amboise, the urgent need for repairs to the complex became apparent.

Louis-Philippe commissioned the architect Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine , who was already working for Napoleon, Louis XVIII. and Charles X. had worked with the restoration of all the remaining buildings. Extensive repairs and restoration measures were carried out under Fontaine and his right-hand man, Pierre Bernard Lefranc, beginning in 1835 with the restoration of the castle chapel, which had previously been used by the castle's own police station for 20 years. She received new windows with stained glass that came from Sèvres . The king not only had the interior of the castle furnished according to the taste of the time, but also bought 46 houses along the curtain wall in order to tear them down and in this way restore the castle complex to its detached character. The work lasted until at least 1842, with the Minimes tower being given a tower with a dining room and salon and the remaining basement of the abandoned House of the Seven Virtues being converted into horse stables.

After the February Revolution in 1848 , the king was forced to abdicate and go into exile in England, but his goods were initially receive him. The state rented Amboise Castle to use it as a prison for the Algerian resistance fighter Abd el-Kader for four years. This use resulted in the establishment of a mosque in the Minimes tower. From November 8, 1848 to October 17, 1852 he stayed in the castle with his entourage, consisting of family and servants, before Napoleon III. pardoned him. Several companions of Abd el-Kader, including one of his wives, died during his house arrest. A cenotaph erected in the palace garden in 1853 commemorates the members of his retinue who died in French captivity.

Extensive restoration by the architects Ruprich Robert

Drawing by Victor Ruprich-Roberts of the façade on the Loire side after the restoration from 1874

At the beginning of the Second Empire , the castle was confiscated as royal property on January 22nd, 1852 and then became the property of the city. Under the direction of Arsène Houssaye, the Inspecteur générale des Beaux-Arts , excavations took place for the first time on the palace grounds from June 1863 . In the process, bones were found on the area of ​​the demolished Notre-Dame-Saint-Florentin church, which were believed to be the mortal remains of Leonardo da Vinci and which were transferred to a new grave in the Hubertus chapel in 1874.

In that year, further extensive restoration work began, initiated by the House of Orléans, because in 1873 Amboise Castle was returned to its former owners. It was again in a bad structural condition. Estimates of the cost of necessary repairs and maintenance in 1868 were 150,000 francs. With the new measures, however, the new lord of the castle, Philippe dʼOrléans, was not pursuing the goal of restoring the buildings to their original state, but rather to give the existing structure a uniform appearance. This also meant that the sometimes very imaginative neo-Gothic additions to the restorations from the time of Louis-Philippe were removed again. The work in the manner of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc initially took place according to designs by the architect Victor Ruprich-Robert . After his death in 1887, his son Gabriel continued the project. Both worked with the sculptor Eugène Legrain .

In a first phase from 1874 to 1878, work took place inside the Logis wing on the Loire side and on the Minimes tower, during which the tower tower built under Fontaine was replaced by a storey with a crenellated crown . In a second phase from 1879 to 1883, the Hubertus Chapel was reworked and dismantled, giving it its present appearance. The restoration of the complex came to a temporary end when Philippe dʼOrléans had to go into exile in England due to the law on the exile of the House of Orléans passed on June 22, 1886. He died there in September 1894, and on November 13, 1895, Henri d'Orléans , Duke of Aumale , bought Amboise Castle. He continued the restoration of the facility, which had been used as a retirement home since 1895. The repair of the Garçonnet tower was completed in 1896. This was followed by the restoration of the second Logis wing until 1897, before the Loire façade of the castle and the restoration of the large hall behind it followed from 1898 to 1907. In 1906 the Heurtault tower was also redesigned. The Duke of Aumale did not live to see this last major phase of the work because he died in May 1897. In accordance with his will, the castle was converted into a retirement home in 1901 for former servants of the Orléans family.

From the 20th century until today

The complex was exchanged for the Société civile du Domaine de Dreux , founded in 1886 by members of the House of Orléans , a civil society whose aim was to preserve the family's most important properties.

During the Second World War , German bombs hit the Hubertus Chapel, the Penthièvre Pavilion and the King's lodgings on June 18 and 19, 1940. After German soldiers captured and occupied the castle, they installed a radio transmitter on the castle grounds. In order to destroy it, Allied troops bombed the castle on July 4, 1943 and further damaged it. After the end of the war, the owner company began in 1952 under the architect Bernard Vitry with renewed restorations in order to repair the war damage. The destroyed chapel windows were replaced by works by the French glass painter Max Ingrand . Since January 4, 1974 Amboise Castle belongs to the Foundation Fondation Saint-Louis , the successor to the Société Civile du Domaine de Dreux , under the patronage of Jean d'Orléans , Count of Paris. Today she is entrusted with the castle administration and responsible for the continuation of the restorations that began in the post-war period. These include work on the exterior of the King's Logis in the period from 1989 to 1995 and subsequent repairs to some of the rooms inside. In 2007 and 2008 further rooms in the Logis were overhauled. In 2002 an extensive restoration campaign started in the exterior and garden area of ​​the palace. It included securing work on the curtain wall (2002 to 2015), the restoration of the Löwentor (2002), the redesign of the palace garden and the new construction of the Oriental Garden in the southeast corner of the former outer bailey.

Amboise Castle is now one of the main attractions in the Center-Val de Loire region and has around 400,000 visitors a year. It can look back on a very long tradition as a tourist destination, because the complex opened its doors to visitors before 1848. In 2014, the basement of the House of Seven Virtues was converted into a visitor center. With a few exceptions, the palace complex is open daily. The interiors of the Logis serve as an interior museum and can be visited for a fee, while access to the palace gardens and the esplanade are free. In the summer of every year in July and August, the festival takes place twice a week after dark. Performers in contemporary costumes, accompanied by music and light effects, show scenes and episodes from life at the court of Charles VIII, Louis XII. and Franz 'I. The special thing about these performances is that all actors are residents of the city or the surrounding area and work together with the other participants such as tailors, technicians and security staff on a voluntary basis without pay.

description

location

Amboise Castle is located in the eastern Touraine 22 kilometers from Tours . With Chenonceau Castle is located southeast of Amboise another known Loire Castle only 12 kilometers away. Together, Blois Castle and Chambord Castle , located 32 and 46 kilometers northeast of Amboise, form the group of the most visited castles in the Loire Valley. The Royal Castle of Amboise stands 40 meters above the Loire on the left bank of the river and at the western end of a tuffeau rock. This rock, known as Promontoir des Châtelliers , not only dominates the city, which is around 25 meters below, but also the confluence of the Amasse into the Loire and the bridge that has spanned the wide river there since Roman times. The Le Clos Lucé manor house is located about half a kilometer south-east of the palace complex.

The palace complex until the 17th century

The palace complex on an engraving by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (north side in the foreground), before 1579, the gray areas have not survived

Jacques I. Androuet du Cerceau has handed down the diversity of the former complex in several drawings. The castle consisted of a total of eight residential buildings (House of the Seven Virtues, Logis of Louis XI., West Logis, Donjon-Logis with the Penthièvre Pavilion, Graben-Logis, Drum-Logis, double-winged Logis of Charles VIII., Logis of Henry II.), Two chapels, four round corner towers and a church. In the walled castle area there was also a formal garden based on Italian models with several buildings.

The buildings were grouped around three courtyards of different dimensions, of which the eastern - also known as the outer courtyard - was by far the largest. The northern part of this flat area was occupied by the Renaissance palace garden, in which, next to an orangery and bird aviary, there was an octagonal pavilion with a fountain, the domed roof of which was crowned by a statue. The garden was surrounded by single-story galleries to the north, east and south. On its south side there was also the armory ( Logis de lʼArmurerie ), in which the most valuable pieces of the royal arms collection were exhibited since Charles VIII. The house, which was raised by one storey under Francis I, later served as a residence for the capitulars of the Notre-Dame-Saint-Florentin church. The church building, built on a cross-shaped floor plan, measured around 40 × 8 or 10 meters and was also located in the east courtyard, along with stables, a powder magazine and buildings for the servants. Since the reign of Heinrich II. The western part of the garden was built over with the logis of Heinrich II. A narrow corridor connected this wing of the palace with Charles VIII's lodgings.

In the middle courtyard in the north stood the Logis of Charles VIII, today called the King's Logis or Royal Logis, and adjoining it to the west, the Drum Logis ( Logis du Tambour ), on the top floor of which there was a library with over 1,100 books. Charles VIII brought them to France from his Italian campaigns in 1495. The three-story House of the Seven Virtues stood on the southern edge of the central courtyard. It was named because of allegorical statues on its north facade facing the courtyard, which represented the three divine virtues and the four cardinal virtues . Because the queen's rooms were temporarily located in it, it was also known as the Queen's Logis ( Logis de la Reine ). The building was 42.2 × 13.3 meters in size and - measured from the courtyard - 13 meters high. Utility rooms were located in the basement, while the ground floor accommodated three large kitchens. The upper floor, to which a roofed ramp led up, was the royal living quarters and a hall. The top floor served as a storage room and housed rooms for servants. The building was connected to the east wing of the Royal Logis via an elongated, low wing. The connecting wing delimited the middle courtyard on its east side. There are only traces of his foundation left in the ground.

In the period before 1708 the western tip of today's castle plateau was completely enclosed by buildings and was called Donjon-Hof ( Cour du Donjon ). The area was separated from the central courtyard by a deep dry moat in which a Jeu de Paume was set up. Access to the courtyard was via a drawbridge . Along the ditch stood the ditch logis named after him, which included rooms for the royal children and the servants of their households. In the eastern part of the north side of the courtyard stood the Donjon-Logis connected to the moat logis. To the west it was followed by a six to eight meter wide and 25 meter long gallery with a view of the Loire, which occupied the rest of the north side. Its roof also served as a terrace . On the opposite south-west side, the 50-meter-long and ten-meter wide Logis delimited Ludwig XI. the middle courtyard. The two-storey building joined the House of Seven Virtues and was occupied by the King and Queen's apartments from 1493 to 1494. These had a direct connection to the two palace chapels, which protruded southwest from the residential building. In contrast to the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher ( Chapelle de Saint-Sépulcre ) below, the Hubertus Chapel is still preserved today. The west side of the Donjon-Hof was occupied by another residential building called Westlogis. It included the royal couple's personal kitchens, among other things. This wing disappeared together with the Donjon-Logis and the Graben-Logis before 1708.

Current condition

Site plan of the castle with the current and no longer preserved building structure

The palace area still has the same dimensions today as it was at the height of the complex in the 15th and 16th centuries, but only a small part of the structure of that time has been preserved. The approximately 24,000 m² plateau is roughly triangular and measures 212 meters on the north side facing the Loire. The east side is 175 meters long, while the south side is 175 meters long. The western tip of the triangle is somewhat flattened and has a length of 19 meters. The altitude of the plateau, which slopes from east to west, varies between 50 and 62 meters. A bastion with casemates , which possibly date from the second half of the 16th century, is placed on its east side for protection . Today's main entrance is a long ramp that begins at the foot of the Hubertus Chapel and leads through the castle rock on the basement of the House of Seven Virtues up to the castle terrace. The part leading through the rock is completely vaulted. He could in its main features from the 12./13. Century and subsequently changed in the 15th century.

architecture

Lion gate

The lion gate on the east side was the oldest entrance to the castle. A stone arch bridge replacing a drawbridge leads to the gate and crosses the 40 meter wide dry moat that protects the east side of the castle. The gate may have got its name from lions that were probably kept in this moat earlier. The name of the gate is first documented for the year 1630, but it was first mentioned in writing in a document from 1482. The arched entrance is protected by a flanking tower , the structure of which may date from the 13th century. Further defensive elements are the still existing machiculis . Next to the large gateway there is a small rectangular hatch , to which a separate drawbridge used to lead.

The king's lodgings
Courtyard facade of the Logis Royal

The King's Logis, also called Royal Logis ( Logis Royal ), is the center of the complex. It is a two-wing building, the wing of which on the Loire side was built by Charles VIII. Like all of this king's buildings, the majority of his building material consisted of bricks and tuffeau from the Loire Valley. The wing measuring 25.30 × 10.10 meters has three storeys, which are closed off by a high, slate-covered roof with dormer windows . The hatchings are crowned by triangular gables with pinnacles and finials . Its gable panels show the emblems of Charles VIII on the north side, that is, a flaming sword and the letter C. The cross-frame windows of the wing show it as a late Gothic building on the threshold of the Renaissance. While the façade facing the courtyard is kept very simple, the façade facing the Loire has a much more opulent decor. On that side, at the foot of the building in the 19th century, there is a reconstructed covered battlement which used to be owned by machikulis. Above is an open gallery with seven round arches, half covered by an openwork stone parapet in the flamboyant style . Their pattern is repeated at the foot of the roof. There is a large hall on the first floor, hence the tall windows there. They lead to a large balcony , which is also known as the balcony of the conspirators because of what happened during the Amboise conspiracy. Its forged grille was the first of its kind in France. At the northwest corner of the Logis is the Penthièvre pavilion, a small square tower that protrudes from the facade. It is the last remnant of the medieval predecessor complex and was later integrated into the lodging. An octagonal stair tower pushes itself into the recessed corner of the building.

A second wing in the style of the early French Renaissance is attached to the wing of Charles VIII at a right angle, and for a long time research has assumed that it was made by Charles's son Louis XII. had started. Since the 1990s, however, it has been certain that Charles VIII was the initiator. Nevertheless, the name wing of Ludwig XII is still used for this wing. common. The 29.50 × 10.50 meter wing has three floors above ground (including the roof) on the east side of the garden, while it is four stories high on the west side of the courtyard. They are accessed via two round stair towers. The wing was built in three phases, all of which are clearly recognizable from the masonry of the south gable . The first construction phase comprises the ground floor and the first floor. After Charles's death, Ludwig XII. the construction through a roof. Around 1516, Francis I finally had the wing increased by one storey in a third construction phase and given a new roof. Accordingly, the shape of the portholes clearly shows that they were not made until the 16th century. They have pilasters and cornices as well as richly carved pediments with pinnacles. On the garden side, the gable fields contain the coats of arms of France and Brittany . The pilasters are repeated on the garden facade as flanking elements of the windows on the upper floor.

The king's logis has a low gallery extension on its north-east side, which Charles VIII probably began and which was also to become a two- or three-story building. Louis XII. but did not continue him in line with his father's plans.

  • The king's lodgings

  • Loire-facing facade with the Minimes tower

  • Garden facade

  • View of the Royal Logis from the south, on the right the gallery extension

Towers
Minimes tower

The Minimes tower, which adjoins the royal residential building at its northeast corner, also dates from the same time as the king's lodgings. Just like its counterpart on the south side of the castle area, the Heurtault Tower, the mighty round tower was not only used for fortification purposes, but also to enable the castle plateau to be reached quickly from the foot of the rock. With their spiral ramps inside, which could also be used by riders and small companions, they are unique in France. The Minimes Tower got its name from a Minims convent at the foot of the castle rock, which was located right next to the tower. Over its entire height of 25 meters spread loopholes . At the base it is surrounded by a five-meter-wide dry trench. Its lower entrance, above which the coats of arms of Charles VIII and Anne de Bretagnes are emblazoned, was previously secured by a drawbridge and a portcullis . The tower has an outer diameter of 23 meters. The ramp inside is three meters wide and covered with stone and brick . With an increase of about 15 percent, it winds around a hollow core six meters in diameter. This serves both for ventilation and lighting. The tower's double crenellated crown is the result of restorations in the 1870s.

Heurtault Tower as seen from the city

The Heurtault Tower (also spelled Hurtault Tower) has been isolated on the south side of the palace complex since the demolition of the 19th century. It got its name from the city gate called Heurtault Gate and destroyed in 1787 in its eastern neighborhood. It also has loopholes over the entire height of its four meter thick walls, but with an outer diameter of 24 meters is even larger than the Minimes tower. The width of its ramp is 3.15 meters and also winds around a core with a diameter of six meters. Its polygonal interior is spanned by a ribbed vault that rests on carved corbels . In the keystone of a porcupine can be seen, while the corbels virtues, vices and sinful in satirical and obscene partly figures show. Some of them were replaced by acanthus ornaments in the 19th century at the time of Louis Philippe because the court found them too suggestive for the ladies. From the foot of the rock, the visitor enters the tower via a large portal . Above the entrance there is a large stone slab with a relief with the royal coat of arms, the initials of Charles VIII and the chain of the Order of Michael. The entrance is flanked by two massive pillars that support a balcony-like construction over a round arch. In the design of the tower entrance at the level of the castle plateau, the first echoes of the Renaissance can already be recognized. Above the 2.15 meter wide and 2.90 meter high segmental arched door there is a frieze with tendril relief and cornices as the upper and lower ends. The relief is bordered on both sides by Corinthian pilasters with rich floral decorations. The execution makes it clear that the French craftsmen at the time of the tower construction were not yet familiar with Renaissance style elements, because the pilasters should actually support the frieze and not border it. The flat conical roof of the Heurtault Tower, the individual floors of which have also been used as feed storage in the meantime, is surrounded by a 2.6 meter wide battlement. This is supported by unusually shaped console stones and is surrounded by gargoyles .

There are more round towers at two corners of the castle plateau, but they have a much smaller diameter than the Minimes and Heurtault towers. On the one hand, there is the so-called Tour Pleine on the west side, the upper floors of which were laid down before 1708 and which no longer have any function today. On the other hand, there is the Garçonnet tower on the north-west corner of the palace area. Why it bears this name is unknown; it has only been called that since 1861. Built between 1466 and 1468, the tuffeau and brick tower is 26 meters high with an outer diameter of 10 meters and has two meters thick walls. At the time, it was supposed to provide quick and easy access for pedestrians out of the city, because the route through the Löwentor on the east side, which had been common up until then, meant an immense detour. Inside the tower has a 2.5 meter wide spiral staircase with 90 steps that winds around a one meter wide spindle. The tower used to have two storeys more than it does today, but it was demolished between 1579 and 1623/1624. Likewise, its former battlement and its machicolations are no longer preserved.

  • Towers

  • Ramp in the Minimes tower

  • Spindle of the Minimes tower

  • Ramp and vault of the Heurtault Tower

Hubertus Chapel
Northeast view of the chapel

The late Gothic Hubertus Chapel stands on a strongly protruding outer structure of the palace and used to be part of Ludwig XI's lodgings. Since its demolition, it has stood free on the castle plateau. The building with a three-sided choir is built on a cross-shaped floor plan and previously served as an oratory . It is twelve meters long and 3.75 meters wide. The name of the small sacred building comes from a relief above the portal, which dates from the end of the 15th century. Like the rest of the sculptural decoration, it is made by Flemish artists. The 3.20 × 0.60 meter work depicts the stories of St. Hubert with the stag, St. Anthony with the pig and St. Christopher . Above this there is another relief in the gable of the chapel, but one 19th century ingredient. It comes from Geoffroy Dechaumes from around 1860 and shows Charles VIII and Anne de Bretagne at the feet of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus. The arched double portal consists of two wooden doors that are richly decorated with carvings. They are each 2.55 meters high and flanked by niches in which statues used to stand. The central pillar of the portal also has a richly decorated niche that used to be occupied by a Madonna . The inscription: "Gloria in excelsis Deo" is on a banderole. Further decorative elements on the facade of the building are pinnacles and gargoyles, a wide entablature frieze with thistles, oak leaves, dogs, rats, toads and angels, and a parapet in late Gothic shapes at the foot of the roof.

The interior of the Hubertus Chapel is also richly decorated with sculpted decoration in the style of the flamboyant. In the past, the building could be heated by two chimneys, but only the fume cupboards are left of these. The nave and the two 2.8 meter long transverse arms are spanned by a one-yoke ribbed vault, the keystone of which sits in the crossing . A frieze in the form of a wide ornamental band can be found under the vault. The choir area is one step higher than the rest of the interior. It has six single-lane tracery windows , while all other windows in the chapel have two lanes. The glazing with scenes from the life of St. Ludwig comes from Max Ingrand. In the south-eastern transverse arm, those bones have been buried since 1874 which, as a result of rather uncertain conclusions, were believed to be those of Leonardo da Vinci. The Italian polymath is shown in a medallion on the grave slab made by Jean Cardot in 2004 .

  • Hubertus Chapel

  • Hubertus Chapel seen from the city

  • Chapel portal with eponymous lintel and gable relief

  • Southern cross arm with the grave of Leonardo da Vinci

Castle park and garden

Castle garden

The undeveloped areas of the palace area are distributed over a large esplanade in the northwest, which was used as a theater square during the Renaissance, the area of ​​the former Renaissance garden, a landscape garden and a modern oriental garden area. Approximately in the middle of the open space, at the former location of the Notre-Dame-Saint-Florentin church, there is a Da Vinci bust donated by Count Henri de Veauréal in 1869 and commemorates the demolished castle church and Leonard da Vinci's original grave. A small part of the dry trench that used to separate the Donjon courtyard in the west of the plateau from the rest of the palace area is still preserved as a recess in front of Charles VIII's wing.

At the site of the former outer bailey, in the southeast of the palace area, there is now a landscaped garden with a strong Mediterranean influence, designed by the architect Pierre-François Leonard Fontaine in the 19th century . The planting consists of holm oaks , cut box trees , cypresses and muscatel vines .

Oriental garden

In the southeast corner of the palace is the Oriental Garden ( Jardin dʼOrient ). It was created in 2005 based on designs by the Algerian artist Rachid Koraïchi . 25  steles made from a stone quarried near Syrian Aleppo commemorate those of Abd el-Kader's entourage who died in French captivity in the castle between 1848 and 1852. Koraïchi included the funeral monument, erected in 1853 for the same occasion, in the design of the garden. It used to have a gilded bronze cross as a crown, but Prussian soldiers stole it in 1870. Today the monument is crowned by a crescent moon.

The 95 × 35 meter large palace garden east of the Royal Logis dates back to the founding of Charles VIII, but it is quite possible that there was a palace garden earlier. The Renaissance garden parterres were later replaced by a Quinconce plantation of linden trees. The galleries surrounding the garden no longer exist either, only a gate on the northeast corner with the heavily weathered decor of a porcupine, the emblem of Louis XII, still exists. It may have belonged to one of the former garden galleries. On the north side of the garden, two viewing platforms in the boundary wall offer a good view of the Loire flowing at the foot of the castle.

museum

The interior of the king's lodge is furnished as a museum. Together with the restored or reconstructed architectural interior, a large number of furniture in the Gothic and Renaissance styles, the Empire and the time of Louis-Philippe can be seen there. In addition to Langeais Castle , Amboise has the largest collection of late Gothic and Renaissance furniture that is presented to visitors to the Loire castles. Much of this was bought by the House of Orléans.

The ground floor of the Charles VIII wing used to be used for storage and commercial purposes and consists of two galleries, the one on the Loire side with open arcades . From there, the double bridge over the Loire and the traffic on the river could be monitored. The closed gallery on the courtyard side is called the Hall of the Guard ( Salle des Gardes Nobles ) and has a Gothic fan vault supported by a single, central column. In addition to tapestries , armaments from the time of the Italian campaigns of Charles VIII and Francis I can be seen in the room . A spiral staircase leads to the Hall of the Drummers ( Salle des Tambourineurs ) on the first floor. This was originally Charles VIII's private room before it was used for parties and events. A Flemish tapestry from the end of the 16th century and various Gothic furniture are displayed in the room, including a chair with rich carvings from the possession of Cardinal Georges d'Amboise .

The adjoining Great Hall is the largest room in the building with a floor area of ​​176 square meters. He will also Ständesaal ( Salle des Etats called), although there is never a States General took place. It was given this name when it was restored by the architects Ruprich-Robert, who were reminded of the estate hall of Blois Castle. The name Council Chamber ( Salle du Conseil ), which is also in use, is more appropriate , because this is where the French king and his staff of 50 to 100 people met. The hall is divided lengthways into two naves by a series of five slender columns . The columns are decorated with the lilies of France and the ermine dots of Brittany and have two ribbed vaults with the monograms and emblems of their builders, Charles VIII and Anne de Bretagne. The emblems of the royal couple can also be found in the large glass windows on the side facing the Loire. Only since a comprehensive restoration based on a few original designs has the hall presented itself in its current state. The two large chimneys at the front are also the result of this reconstruction. The one in the east was rebuilt based on ancient models using what was left at the time. Parts of the medallion with the head of Alexander the Great and parts of the frieze are original. The opposite fireplace in the west is in the style of the flamboyant and shows the coats of arms of Anne de Bretagnes and Charles VIII.

  • Gothic wing rooms

  • Loire-facing gallery in the Charles VIII wing.

  • Guard room

  • Hall of the Drummers

  • Council chamber, view of the western end wall

In the Renaissance wing of the 15th / 16th centuries Century can be visited rooms on the first and second floor. The first floor accommodated a kitchen and service rooms. The room of Heinrich II. ( Chambre Henri II ) on the first floor was used by Catherine de Medici as an anteroom. The wedding of Lorenzo de 'Medici and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne took place there at the time of King Francis I. Today it is furnished with furniture from the Renaissance period, including a large four-poster bed and a carved walnut chest with a secret compartment. It comes from Catherine de Medici's dowry. Tapestries from Brussels and Tournai , made at the end of the 16th century, hang on the walls . The windows on the east side are striking, the walls of which show reliefs with lilies and ermine dots. In addition, the windows are framed by carved pilgrim sticks with money cats . This rich decoration is repeated on the east windows of the adjacent cupbearer room ( Salle de lʼÉchanson ). It was originally Franz 'I bedroom. The room shows furniture from the Gothic and Renaissance periods, including a sideboard and two tables that can be extended. Five tapestries with biblical and ancient motifs hang on the walls, including the banquet of Queen Esther . The wall hanging was woven in Aubusson in the 17th century from cardboard by Charles Le Brun . A wide fireplace with carved wood paneling completes the decor of this room.

On the second floor, three salons furnished for Louis-Philippe can be viewed, all of which have carmine-red wall covering. In the small cabinet of Louis-Philippe ( Cabinet Louis-Philippe ) you can see period furniture from the restoration period . The canopy bed of Adélaïde d'Orléans , Louis-Philippe's sister, is shown in the adjacent bedroom . The equipment of the adjacent large music salon ( Salon de Musique ) includes a wood-paneled fireplace and a piano from the Érard workshop from 1842. Portraits of members of the Orléans family are on display in all three rooms, including works from the workshop of the painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter and one Copy of the famous work by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun showing Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre.

  • Rooms of the renaissance wing

  • Henry II's room

  • Cupbearer's room

  • bedroom

  • Music salon

literature

  • Jean-Pierre Babelon: Châteaux de France au siècle de la Renaissance . Flammarion, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-08-012062-X , pp. 23-28, 108-110 .
  • Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. Actes Sud, Arles 2004, ISBN 2-7427-4746-X .
  • Jean-Pierre Babelon (Ed.): Le Château dʼAmboise. (= Connaissance des Arts. Special issue No. 279). Société Française de Promotion Artistique, Paris 2006, ISSN  0293-9274 .
  • Louis-Augustin Bossebœuf: Amboise. Le château, la ville et le canton. L. Péricat, Tours 1897 ( digitized version ).
  • Jean Martin-Demézil: Amboise. In: Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos (ed.): Le Guide du Patrimoine. Center, Val de Loire. Hachette, Paris 1992, ISBN 2-01-018538-2 , pp. 104-111.
  • Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. Presses universitaires de Rennes, Rennes 2014, ISBN 978-2-86906-374-7 .
  • Bruno Guignard: Amboise. Le palais de Charles VIII. In: Philippe Leclerc (ed.): Lex châteaux de la Loire. Merveilles de lʼart et de lʼhistoire. 1st edition. Sélection du Reader's Digest, Paris 1998, ISBN 2-7098-0909-5 , pp. 128-137.
  • Suzanne dʼHuart: The Castle of Amboise. Artaud, Carquefou-Nantes [1980].
  • Francis Morel: Château royal dʼAmboise. (= Connaissance des Arts. Special issue no. 668). Société Française de Promotion Artistique, Paris 2015, ISSN  1242-9198 .
  • Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos: Castles in the Loire Valley. Könemann, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-89508-597-9 , pp. 42-49.
  • Evelyne Thomas: Les logis royaux d'Amboise. In: Revue de lʼArt. Vol. 26, No. 100, 1993, ISSN  0035-1326 , pp. 44-57 ( digitized version ).
  • Evelyne Thomas: Recherches sur le château d'Amboise. Sources et method. In: Bulletin de la Société Archéologique de Touraine. Volume 43. Société Archéologique de Touraine, Tours 1992, pp. 553-560 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Amboise Castle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ^ Andrew Anthony Dumont: A la découverte des châteaux de la Loire. Où lʼhistoire, lʼart et lʼarchitecture sʼentremêlent. University of Maine, Orono 2004, p. 28.
  2. ↑ Entry of the castle in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  3. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise, le château et la ville aux 15e – 16e s. In: Elisabeth Zadora-Rio (Ed.): Atlas Archéologique de Touraine. FERACF, Tours 2014 ( online ).
  4. ↑ The information on how much of the building fabric has been preserved varies between a fifth and a third in the literature.
  5. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 17.
  6. ↑ Guillaume Morel: Du Néolithique à Louis XI. In: Francis Morel: Château royal dʼAmboise. 2015, p. 4.
  7. ^ A b Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 24.
  8. ^ A b Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 35.
  9. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 28.
  10. ↑ According to Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 30. Jean Martin-Demézil mentions in his contribution to Le Guide du Patrimoine. Center, Val de Loire 1014 as the start of construction and also states that the church was built on the site of an older predecessor. See Jean Martin-Demézil: Amboise. 1992, p. 105.
  11. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 30.
  12. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, pp. 28-29.
  13. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 31.
  14. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 37.
  15. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 69.
  16. ^ A b Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 40.
  17. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 71.
  18. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 105.
  19. ↑ The castles of the Loire. Amboise. Sun, Paris 1981, ISBN 2-7191-0137-0 , p. 7.
  20. ^ A b Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 63.
  21. ↑ Jean Martin-Demézil mentions in his article in Le Guide du Patrimoine. Center, Val de Loire 1496 as the completion date of the new chapel. See Jean Martin-Demézil: Amboise. 1992, p. 111.
  22. ↑ a b Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 50.
  23. ↑ a b Guillaume Morel: Les fastes de la Renaissance. In: Francis Morel: Château royal dʼAmboise. 2015, p. 12.
  24. ↑ Dominique de La Tour: Un gout dʼItalie. In: Jean-Pierre Babelon (ed.): Le Château dʼAmboise. 2006, p. 28.
  25. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 66.
  26. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 128.
  27. ↑ Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos: Castles in the Loire Valley. 1997, p. 43.
  28. ↑ Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos: Castles in the Loire Valley. 1997, pp. 45-46.
  29. ↑ Suzanne dʼHuart: The Castle of Amboise. [1980,] p. 12.
  30. ↑ Gérard Denizeau: Châteaux. 2nd Edition. Larousse, Paris 2008, ISBN 978-2-03-583965-7 , p. 201.
  31. ↑ Louis-Augustin Bossebœuf: Amboise. Le château, la ville et le canton. 1897, p. 184.
  32. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 124.
  33. ↑ Louis-Augustin Bossebœuf: Amboise. Le château, la ville et le canton. 1897, p. 193.
  34. ↑ Jules Loiseleur: Les Résidences Royales de la Loire. E. Dentu, Paris 1863, p. 280 ( digitized version ).
  35. ↑ Jules Loiseleur: Les Résidences Royales de la Loire. E. Dentu, Paris 1863, p. 282 ( digitized version ).
  36. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. Le château: la tour Garçonnet, une «tour-poterne». In: Bulletin Monumental. Vol. 169, No. 1, 2011, ISSN  0007-473X p. 72 ( digitized version ).
  37. ↑ History on the castle website ( Memento from August 18, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  38. ^ A b Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 136.
  39. ^ A b Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 138.
  40. ^ A b Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 139.
  41. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 141.
  42. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 140.
  43. ↑ a b c Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 32.
  44. ↑ Information according to the castle website ( Memento from October 11, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). The periods vary in the literature. Some mention 1805 as the beginning of the demolition work, others let it end in 1807 or 1808.
  45. ↑ Guillaume Morel: You déclin au renouveau. In: F. Morel: Château royal dʼAmboise. 2015, p. 28.
  46. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 150.
  47. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 151.
  48. ↑ Jules Loiseleur: Les Résidences Royales de la Loire. E. Dentu, Paris 1863, p. 211 ( digitized version ).
  49. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 156.
  50. ↑ Louis-Augustin Bossebœuf: Amboise. Le château, la ville et le canton. 1897, p. 211.
  51. ↑ Guillaume Morel: LʼÉmir Abd e-Kader. In: Francis Morel: Château royal dʼAmboise. 2015, p. 30.
  52. ↑ Jules Loiseleur: Les Résidences Royales de la Loire. E. Dentu, Paris 1863, p. 207 ( digitized version ).
  53. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 120.
  54. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 161.
  55. ↑ Suzanne dʼHuart: The Castle of Amboise. [1980,] p. 25.
  56. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 164.
  57. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 167.
  58. ^ History of the castle in the 19th and 20th centuries , accessed on January 4, 2020.
  59. ↑ a b Building history 1996 to 2014 on the castle website ( memento from October 11, 2017 in the Internet Archive ).
  60. ↑ CCI de l'Indre: La filière tourisme dans l'Indre. CCI de l'Indre, Châteauroux December 2016, p. 1 ( PDF ; 1.1 MB).
  61. ↑ Amboise: la face cachée enfin dévoilée! on france-pittoresque.com , accessed February 24, 2017.
  62. ^ A b Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 103.
  63. ↑ Suzanne dʼHuart: The Castle of Amboise. [1980,] pp. 28-29.
  64. ↑ Guillaume Morel: Les fastes de la Renaissance. In: Francis Morel: Château royal dʼAmboise. 2015, p. 10.
  65. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 53.
  66. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 126.
  67. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 31.
  68. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 117.
  69. ^ Evelyne Thomas: Les logis royaux d'Amboise. 1993, p. 46.
  70. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 83.
  71. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 79.
  72. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 59.
  73. ↑ a b c d Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 55.
  74. ^ A b Jean Martin-Demézil: Amboise. 1992, p. 108.
  75. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 65.
  76. ^ According to Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 58. Older publications indicate the width of the trench at 27 meters.
  77. ↑ a b Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 52.
  78. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 60.
  79. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 70.
  80. ↑ a b Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 109.
  81. ↑ The castles of the Loire. Amboise. Sun, Paris 1981, ISBN 2-7191-0137-0 , p. 23.
  82. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 129.
  83. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 130.
  84. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 118.
  85. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 135.
  86. ↑ Louis-Augustin Bossebœuf: Amboise. Le château, la ville et le canton. 1897, p. 216.
  87. ^ According to Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 118. According to Jean-Pierre Babelon, the diameter of the Minimes tower is 21 meters. See Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 70.
  88. ^ A b Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 70.
  89. ↑ Bernard Champigneulle: Loire castles. 6th edition. Prestel, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-7913-0276-0 , p. 180.
  90. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 75.
  91. ↑ Louis-Augustin Bossebœuf: Amboise. Le château, la ville et le canton. 1897, p. 219.
  92. ↑ Guillaume Morel: Les fastes de la Renaissance. In: Francis Morel: Château royal dʼAmboise. 2015, p. 14.
  93. ^ A b Louis-Augustin Bossebœuf: Amboise. Le château, la ville et le canton. 1897, p. 223.
  94. ↑ Bernard Champigneulle: Loire castles. 6th edition. Prestel, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-7913-0276-0 , p. 181.
  95. ↑ Information from Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. Le château: la tour Garçonnet, une «tour-poterne». In: Bulletin Monumental. Vol. 169, No. 1, 2011, ISSN  0007-473X pp. 68-69 ( digitized version ). According to Jean-Pierre Babelon, the tower is only eight meters in diameter. See Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 41.
  96. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 73.
  97. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 41.
  98. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. Le château: la tour Garçonnet, une «tour-poterne». In: Bulletin Monumental. Vol. 169, No. 1, 2011, ISSN  0007-473X p. 68 ( digitized version ).
  99. ^ A b c Louis-Augustin Bossebœuf: Amboise. Le château, la ville et le canton. 1897, p. 158.
  100. ↑ a b The castles of the Loire. Amboise. Sun, Paris 1981, ISBN 2-7191-0137-0 , p. 20.
  101. ^ Bruno Guignard: Amboise. Le palais de Charles VIII. 1998, p. 136.
  102. ↑ Ruth Wessel: The Sainte-Chapelle in France. Genesis, function and change of a sacred space type. Dissertation at Heinrich Heine University. Düsseldorf 2003, p. 233 ( PDF ; 10.4 MB).
  103. ↑ Louis-Augustin Bossebœuf: Amboise. Le château, la ville et le canton. 1897, p. 159.
  104. ↑ Dominique de La Tour: Leonardo da Vinci. In: Jean-Pierre Babelon (ed.): Le Château dʼAmboise. 2006, p. 31.
  105. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 169.
  106. ^ Guillaume Morel: Un jardin ne à la Renaissance. In: Francis Morel: Château royal dʼAmboise. 2015, p. 16.
  107. ↑ Dominique de La Tour: La prison dʼAbd el-Kader. In: Jean-Pierre Babelon (ed.): Le Château dʼAmboise. 2006, p. 33.
  108. ^ Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 157.
  109. ↑ Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 73.
  110. ^ Wilfried Hansmann : The Loire Valley. Castles, churches and cities in the "garden of France". 2nd Edition. DuMont, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-7701-3555-5 , p. 115.
  111. ↑ Guillaume Morel: La salle des Tambourineurs. In: Francis Morel: Château royal dʼAmboise. 2015, p. 15.
  112. ^ According to Jean-Pierre Babelon: Le Château dʼAmboise. 2004, p. 80. Lucie Gaugain mentions a floor space of 172 m². See Lucie Gaugain: Amboise. A chateau in the ville. 2014, p. 110.
  113. ↑ Dominique de La Tour: La Grande Salle. In: Jean-Pierre Babelon (ed.): Le Château dʼAmboise. 2006, p. 26.
  114. ^ Bruno Guignard: Amboise. Le palais de Charles VIII. 1998, p. 134.
  115. ^ Werner Rau: Loire Valley. On the most beautiful routes to castles and sights on the Loire, Indre, Cher, Vienne, Sarthe and Loir. 1st edition. Werner Rau, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-926145-27-7 , p. 112.
  116. ↑ The castles of the Loire. Komet, Frechen 2001, ISBN 3-89836-200-0 , p. 12.
  117. ↑ Guillaume Morel: La chambre Henri II. In: Francis Morel: Château royal dʼAmboise. 2015, p. 21.
  118. ↑ The castles of the Loire. Komet, Frechen 2001, ISBN 3-89836-200-0 , p. 13.
  119. ↑ The green travel guide. Castles on the Loire. Michelin, Landau-Mörlheim 2005, ISBN 2-06-711591-X , p. 89.

Coordinates: 47 ° 24 ′ 47.5 ″  N , 0 ° 59 ′ 9 ″  E

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on May 22, 2017 in this version .