Les Itinéraires du Patrimoine : Chambord Castle (Visit guide) - French

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, the harmony of which is due to the perfect marriage between the monumentality of the masses and the nobility of the details. Around the famous double staircase are the royal flats and the court lodgings, some of which still have some of their decoration and which have recently been refurnished. In 2017, the reconstitution of the vast French parterre that was ordered by Louis XIV reveals another face of the castle of François I. The Château de Chambord and its village are located at the centre of a vast national forest and hunting estate of 5,433 hectares, surrounded by a 32-kilometre long wall.