CrockerTravellers 2015: Loire Chateaux

Our first stop was the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, one the more famous Loire chateaux. Unfortunately it was almost entirely wrapped up in plastic undergoing renovation.

The church was quite interesting though.

Then it was on to our main stop of Langeais. There was a market on and we did a bit of present shopping before doing our chateau tour.

The Château de Langeais is a medieval castle and re built later as a château, Founded in 992 by Fulk Nerra, Count of Anjou, the castle was soon attacked by Odo I, Count of Blois. After the unsuccessful attack, the now-ruined stone keep was built; it is one of the earliest datable stone examples of a keep. Between 994 and 996 the castle was besieged unsuccessfully twice more. During the conflict between the counts of Anjou and Blois, the castle changed hands several times, and in 1038 Fulk captured the castle again.

This is the ruined keep of this original castle. Apparently it is the oldest surviving keep anywhere.

After it was destroyed during the Hundred Years' War, King Louis XI (1461–1483) rebuilt Château de Langeais into what today is one of the best known examples of late medieval architecture. It is especially noted for its monumental and highly decorated chimneypieces. Restored in the late 19th century, Château de Langeais came under the control of the Institut de France, who own the site today.

They have restored the chateau beautifully and it was laid out in such a way that it was possible to get a bit of an idea of what life would have been like to live there. There was quite a few interesting tapestries.

Is that a ghost at the window?

Behind the keep facade they have erected the scaffolding as it would have been when building it.

Great cubby house in the grounds.

On the way back Mike kindly took us Dolmen hunting as Geoff had seen one coming into Chinon which a house had been built around. It took a bit of finding but finally we were rewarded. It was a weird sight. And the question arises where did they get such large stones in a floodplain?

Once back in Chinon we climbed back up behind the fortress to see the Chapel St Radegonde Chapel which is built onto the rock face. It contains galleries leading to an ancient well, all dug into the Rock. It is decorated with wall paintings, including one of the royal hunt dating from the 12th century which could depict members of the Plantagenet family.

Not way to the chapel we saw lots of houses built into the cliff. These are called troglodyte dwellings.

After a kilometre or so the path runs out at the Chapelle Ste-Radegonde, a rock-cut church which is part of a complex of cave dwellings in which St Radegonde lived with her followers. The sixth-century German princess renounced the world and her husband – probably not a great sacrifice, since he eventually murdered her brother – in order to devote her life to God.