History

The faade of the Louis XII wing, with the main entrance.

The interior of the Louis XII wing, with the chapel to the right.

[edit] Louis XII

The medieval castle was purchased in 1391 by Louis, duc d'Orlans, brother of Charles VI; after the duke's assassination his widow, Valentine de Milan, retired to Blois. It was inherited by his son, Charles d'Orlans the poet, who was taken prisoner at Agincourt and spent twenty-five years as a hostage in England, before returning to his beloved Blois, which he partly rebuilt as a more commodious habitation. It became the favourite royal residence and the political capital of the kingdom under Charles' son King Louis XII. At the beginning of the 1500s, the king initiated a reconstruction of the main block of the entry and the creation of an Italian garden in terraced parterres that occupied the present Place Victor Hugo and the site of the railway station. In 1890 the construction of the Avenue Victor Hugo destroyed the remainder of the gardens. This wing, of red brick and grey stone, forms the main entrance to the chteau, and features a statue of the mounted king above the entrance. Although the style is principally Gothic, as the profiles of moldings, the lobed arches and the pinnacles attest, there are elements of Renaissance architecture present, such as a small chandelier.

The rear of the Franois I wing, facing over central Blois.

[edit] Franois I
When Franois I took power, his wife Queen Claude had him refurbish Blois with the intention of moving to it from the Chteau d'Amboise. Franois initiated the construction of a new wing and created one of the periods most important libraries in the castle. But, after the death of his wife in 1524, he spent very little time at Blois and the massive library was moved to the royal

Chteau de Fontainebleau where it was used to form the royal library that forms the core now of the Bibliothque Nationale de France. In this wing, the architecture and ornamentation are marked by Italian influence. At the centre is the monumental spiral staircase, covered with fine bas-relief sculptures and looking out onto the chteau's central court. Behind this wing is the faade of the Loges, characterised by a series of disconnected niches.

[edit] Henri III

King Henri III, driven from Paris during the French Wars of Religion, lived at Blois and held the Estates-General convention there in 1576 and 1588. It was during this convention that the king had his arch-enemy, the duc de Guise, executed.

The Chambre du Roi with Henry IV's H in the floor tiles

[edit] Henri IV
After this, the castle was occupied by Henri IV, the first Bourbon monarch. On Henris death, it became the place of exile for his widow, Marie de Medici, when she was expelled from the court of her son, Louis XIII.

The Gaston d'Orlans wing, never completed.

[edit] Gaston d'Orlans

In 1626, King Louis XIII gave the Chteau of Blois to his brother Gaston d'Orlans as a wedding gift. In 1635 there was another attempt to develop the castle but on Gaston's death in 1660, it was abandoned. The task of developing this wing was given to Franois Mansart, a well-known architect of the time. This wing makes up the rear wall of the court, directly opposite the Louis XII wing. The central section is composed of three horizontal layers where the superposition of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders can be seen. By the time of the French Revolution the immense castle had been neglected for more than one hundred and thirty years, and the revolutionaries, determined to wipe out any symbol of the old nobility while enriching themselves[citation needed], ransacked the castle and stole[citation needed] many of its statues, royal emblems and coats of arms. In a state of near total disrepair it was scheduled to be demolished but was given a reprieve as a military barracks.

[edit] Preservation as a monument

The "chambre de secrets", mistakenly believed to be Catherine de' Medici's secret hiding place for poisons. In 1841, under the direction of King Louis-Philippe, the Chteau de Blois was classified as an historic monument. It was restored under the direction of the architect Felix Duban, to whom is due the painted decoration on walls and beamed ceilings. The chteau was turned into a museum. On view for visitors, are the supposed poison cabinets of Catherine de' Medici. Most likely this room, the "chamber of secrets" had a much more banal purpose: exhibiting precious objects for guests. Today, the chteau is owned by the town of Blois and is a tourist attraction.

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Chteau de Blois is at coordinates 473508N 11951E / 47.585501, 1.33095Coordinates: 473508N 11951E / 47.585501, 1.33095 [hide]

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Chteaux of the Loire Valley