Brissac Castle
The Brissac castle is located in the French city of Brissac-Quincé in the department of Maine-et-Loire , about 15 kilometers south of Angers area. The chateau has seven floors and 204 rooms and is nicknamed "Giant of the Loire".
The old castle
Brissac Castle was originally built as a fortification by the Counts of Anjou in the 11th century . After Philip II's victory over the English king, he handed over the property to Guillaume des Roches. In the middle of the 15th century, Pierre de Brézé , Minister of Charles VII and Louis XI. took over the property and built a medieval castle with mighty round towers. Two of them still flank the main front today. They are one of the few that remains of the 15th century structure. In 1465, Pierre de Brézé fell at the Battle of Montlhéry, and in 1502 the Brézé family was forced to sell Brissac to Charles VIII's Chamberlain , René de Cossé. His descendants are still the owners of the Brissac Castle today.
Charles II. Cossé-Brissac was one of the leaders of the Catholic League during the Wars of Religion and since 1594 governor of Paris. He wanted to end the civil war and recognized Henry IV as the legitimate king of France. By opening the gates of the capital occupied by Spanish troops for him on March 22, 1594, he gave Henry IV the opportunity to take the city practically without a fight. In gratitude, the king raised Brissac to a duchy in 1611 and awarded Charles II the rank of field marshal and peer of France . He also allowed him to rebuild the castle, which had been badly damaged during the war.
Remodeling under Charles II. De Cossé
According to a grandiose plan, the old castle was to be completely demolished from 1601 and a structural monument with three wings and seven to eight floors was to be erected in its place. Reconstruction, however, made slow progress; new parts were being erected while the old parts of the building were being torn down. The client died in 1621 before the building was completed, and his son and successor had all work stopped. Thus, the building has remained in the same structural condition as it was then.
The monumental pavilion of the five-story main wing in the east lies between the two round towers of the old castle and shows a style that is reminiscent of Cheverny Castle , but somewhat Italian. The floors are divided by pilasters of the five classical orders. Side arched niches and windows accompany the five large arched openings on the central axis. The facade is also enlivened by pilasters and rectangular frames on window and door openings. Two stylistically designed tracts with the main wing enclose a narrow inner courtyard.
The pavilion was to have a lower wing on both sides, but only the left side between the pavilion and the south tower was completed. Charles II. De Cossé's original plan resulted in a perfectly symmetrical facade without the two towers.
interior
Brissac Castle is still inhabited today and is furnished with a number of treasures. From the vestibule, the tour first leads into the large salon with carved and painted wood paneling and a gilded beamed ceiling from the 17th century. There are also four Venetian crystal chandeliers from Murano. The impressive entablature shows the style of Louis XIII. and is adorned with carved flower garlands, fruits and leaf motifs.
The large gallery is on the first floor. It is 32 m long and is of the type that spread in castles during the 16th and 17th centuries. Examples of this are the Francois Gallery in Fontainebleau, the gallery in Chenonceau Castle across the Cher River and the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles Palace . The walls were either decorated with paintings, or they were hung with tapestries, as in Brissac Castle. The 16th century Flemish tapestries depict scenes from the life of Alexander the Great. The vaulted ceiling of the gallery was magnificently painted in 1625 with 100 miniatures of pastoral, biblical and mythological themes.
The end of the tour is the Gothic chapel in the south tower of the original castle. The Renaissance choir stalls are adorned with inlaid enamel plaques and come from a monastery in Naples. This is followed by the Hunting Room, which owes its name to Flemish tapestries depicting various types of hunting from the 16th century. In the subsequent so-called room of Ludwig XIII. met in August 1620 King Ludwig XIII. and his mother Maria de Medici after the battle of Ponts-de-Cé to temporarily reconcile.
The castle in modern times
The descendants of the Count of Brissac lived in the castle until it was sacked in 1792 during the French Revolution . The castle lay in ruins until it was restored in 1844 by the Count's descendants. This work lasted well into the 19th century.
At the end of the 19th century, Jeanne Say, wife of the Marquis de Brissac, changed the area around the castle. A ditch, over which a drawbridge led, was filled and the park redesigned in the English style. The stables opposite the castle have been restored, as have the rooms and interiors; In addition, a small opera hall was built in the palace for the talented coloratura singer.
Today the castle is owned by the 13th Duke of Brissac and is still inhabited. Some of the interiors are open to visitors. The castle provides a prestigious setting for special occasions, and it is also the venue for the annual Val de Loire festival .
A spacious, approximately 70 hectare park with two natural waterways and a stud is attached to the castle . A winery is also attached to the castle. At the edge of the park there is a 237 meter long tunnel, which is believed to date from the 18th century and diverted the flooding Aubance River to prevent flooding at the castle. Over the centuries this passage has been filled with thousands of cubic meters of sand that were removed by the year 2000. It took more than 100 local volunteers four years to do this.
literature
- Wilfried Hansmann : The Loire Valley. Castles, churches and cities in the «Garden of France» . 2nd Edition. DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2006, ISBN 3-7701-6614-0 , p. 212-214 .
- The castles on the Loire . Verlag Valoire-Estel, Blois 2006, ISBN 2-909575-73-X , p. 133.
- Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos, Robert Polidori : Castles in the Loire Valley . Könemann, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-89508-597-9 , p. 214 .
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 21 ′ 11.5 " N , 0 ° 26 ′ 59" W.