Les Itinéraires du Patrimoine : Chambord Castle (Visit Guide) - English

The Château de Chambord is a masterpiece of the Renaissance, the emblem of the Loire Valley. Its architecture and ornamentation mark the liberation of French art from the Italian model and the affirmation of royal power. The profusion and symmetry of the towers and windows, dormer windows, bell towers and chimneys give it a unique, even fairy-tale silhouette, whose harmony comes from the perfect marriage between the monumentality of the masses and the nobility of the details. Around the famous double staircase, the royal apartments and the court lodgings are arranged, some of which still have some of their decoration and have recently been refurnished. In 2017, the reconstitution of the vast French-style parterre that was ordered by Louis XIV reveals another face of the castle of François I.  The Chambord castle and its village are located in the center of a vast national forest and hunting domain of 5,433 hectares, surrounded by a 32 kilometer long wall.