Decided to make my stop here rather than riding straight on to Saumur. A bit early in the trip for a rest day, but I'm not on a timetable and this is an attractive little town. Surprisingly significant historically, too, as I discovered when spending a happy morning rooting around in the Chateau.
Really interesting building, having started out as a heavily fortified mediaeval castle then morphing into a Renaissance Palace during the late 15th and early 16th centuries as Charles VIII and, especially, Francis I turned it into one of the principal royal residences. You can get an idea of how the palace grew out of the fortress from this view:
Palace on top, curtain wall underneath, town far below.
Anne de Bretagne lived here. By marrying her Charles VIII put an end to the fighting between France and Brittany. And just to illustrate how determined he was to make that a permanent arrangement, the marriage contract stated that should he predecease her, she must marry the next King, his cousin, Louis XII: which, in 1498, she duly did. And thirty-odd years later the Duchy of Brittany was finally and irrevocably incorporated into France. Don't you love it when a plan comes together?
But the real enthusiast for the renaissance was Francis I, who, if I remember rightly, was the one who built Chambord. He invited Leonardo da Vinci to Amboise and the great man lived here for the last three years of his life. He's buried here, in the chapel.
La Chapelle Saint-Hubert
At least, he's probably buried here. He was certainly buried in the Chateau, but the tomb was destroyed a couple of hundred years later. They exhumed some remains that they thought were probably his and reinterred them in the chapel. He's around here somewhere..
So, a fairly pivotal place in the formation of modern France and the building evolved with the times, starting out when French Kings needed the protection of castles and finishing up in the era when the Chateau had become a grand country house, with gardens to match.
You want topiary? We got it.
Otherwise, a lazy day in the local cafes. It was supposed to rain. In fact it has turned out to be beautiful. Tomorrow, on to Saumur, or thereabouts.
1 comment:
Never been to Amboise nor acquainted with its history. You've helped on the latter but We will need to address the former. Enjoy Saumur!
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