Chartres

Chartres is a small city in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France, approximately an hour south-west of Paris by train. Population is 42,000 although that rises to 100,000 when the surrounding towns are taken into consideration.
The main attraction for most visitors to
Chartres is the 12th century cathedral, considered by many
art historians to be the finest surviving example from the High Gothic period.
In the last couple of years a new mayor has overseen the modernization
of the center of the town.
There has provoked both positive and negative reactions
from the "Chartrains", but there is no doubt that the town is undergoing a certain renewal.

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Clermont - Ferrand

Clermont-Ferrand is a city in central France, the capital of the Auvergne region.
Population 140,000.
Clermont-Ferrand is famous for the chain of extinct volcanoes that ring the city, including the highest, Puy-de-Dôme, some 13 km away from the city centre.
One of the oldest cities of France, its first mention was by the Greek geographer Strabo, who called it Nemessos, a Gaulish word for a sacred forest.
The settlement witnessed the famous Battle of Gergovia, in which the Gauls led by Vercingetorix triumphed temporarily over the Romans led ultimately by Julius Caesar.
After the Roman conquest, the city was renamed Augustonemetum, a name which combined its original Gallic name with that of the Emperor Augustus.
Its population was estimated at 15,000–30,000 inhabitants in the 2nd century CE
making it one of the largest cities of Roman Gaul.
In 848, the city was renamed Clairmont, after the castle Clarus Mons. Clairmont was an episcopal city ruled by its bishop, and famously the starting point
of the First Crusade raised to free Jerusalem from Muslim domination.
Pope Urban II preached Crusade in 1095 at the Council of Clermont.
In 1120, to counteract the power of the clergy, the counts of Auvergne founded the city of Montferrand on the model of the new cities of the Midi. In 1551, Clermont became a royal city, and in 1610, the inseparable property of the Crown.
On 15 April 1630, the Edict of Troyes (the First Edict of Union) forcibly joined the two cities of Clermont and Ferrand.
This union was confirmed in 1731 by Louis XV with the Second Edict of Union. At this time Montferrand was no more than a satellite city of Clermont, in which condition it remained until the beginning of the 20th century. Wishing to retain its independence, Montferrand made three demands for independence, in 1789, 1848, and 1863.

In the 20th century, the construction of the Michelin factories and city gardens definitively reunited Clermont and Montferrand. Today, although the two cities are amalgamated
one may find in Clermont-Ferrand two distinct downtowns
and Montferrand retains a strong identity.
Clermont-Ferrand remains home
to the famous French tyre manufacturing company Michelin.

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Angouleme

Angoulême is the capital of the Charente department.
It lies about 135km north of Bordeaux in south west France.

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Clos-Luce Castle

This residence of pink brick was built by Hugues d'Amboise on Gallo-Roman foundations in the reign of Louis XI (between 1107 and 1115).
The property was then given by the king to his favourite, Etienne le Loup, a cook's assistant whom he ennobled.
The estate, which was called the Manoir du Cloux at that time
was surrounded by fortifications, all that remains today being the watchtower.
At the bottom of the park, Etienne Le Loup also had a dovecote
which is still intact, and which could house 500 pigeons.
Bought by Charles VIII on 2nd July 1490, the castle became a royal estate.
It was to remain so for two centuries.
While the Royal Court resided at the Château d'Amboise in the Loire Valley, the Manoir du Cloux was used as a secondary residence. Charles VIII had the chapel
built here for the Queen, Anne de Bretagne, in mourning for her children who died young.
Later, the young Duke of Angouleme, the future Francis I, organised war games in the gardens of the Clos-Lucé. Marguerite de Navarre, the sister of Francis I, wrote the first erotic stories of "L'Heptaméron" there.
It was under Francis I that Le Clos-Lucé became the house symbolising the Renaissance movement in France. Advised by his sister, Francis I had painters, architects, and poets, such as Clément Marot, who were seeking royal protection, brought here.
But the greatest of those to cross the threshold of Le Clos Lucé was certainly Leonardo da Vinci.

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Chenonceau Castle - france

Built on the river Cher, where the unique beauty of its architecture reflects in the water, the Château de Chenonceau is the Val de Loire’s finial.
Château des Dames as recorded in the French history books, Chenonceau owes a large part of its charm to women: it was built in 1513 by Katherine Briçonnet, then made even more attractive by Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Médicis, and saved from the rigours of the French Revolution by Mrs Dupin.
The lovely surroundings, the formal garden and the park surrounding
it add to the impression of delicate grace emanating from the castle.
Chenonceau is not only remarkable for its architecture and history but also
for the fine quality of its collections as can be seen from the inside visit: Renaissance furniture, a vast ensemble of XVI th and XVII th centuries tapestries
and a great number of masterpieces. Le Primatice, Rubens, Le Tintoret, Rigaud, Nattier, Van Loo are among the most famous names that can be found ther
The estate of Chenonceau is mentioned for the first time
in writing towards the end of the XIth century.
From the XIIIth to the XVth century, the estate of Chenonceau, with its unprepossessing feudal manor, was the property of the Marques family.
1411 : A royal order to punish Jean Marques for an
act of sedition included an order for the destruction of the manor.
1432 : Jean Marques had a castle and a fortified mill
built to replace the lost manor of Chenonceau.

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Cheverny Castle - france

Only some remnants of Raoul Hurault’s old fortified castle possibly remain today.
To say possibly may be surprising.
This is a mystery in Cheverny as it cannot be proven whether part of the outbuildings are vestiges of the old castle.
The old castle was captured in a drawing by a travelling artist but there
are no reliable landmarks in the drawing.
This is why the present castle could well have been built
on the exact spot as the old castle, which would have been completely demolished.
The present Château de Cheverny is an original jewel among the more famous monuments that stretch along the Loire Valley. In fact, Renaissance style did not find its place in Cheverny
which is built in the purest Louis XIII classical style, distinguished by an extraordinarily symmetrical architecture. Cheverny, which was built in the first part of the 17th Century, is a prime example of this style.
Its delicate features also stand out through the perfect whiteness of the stones, from the Bourré quarries in the Cher Valley.
This particular stone not only comes out white, but also becomes harder with time.
However, this almost rigid architectural layout also has its contrasts, such as the variety of roofing styles, from domes, to bell-towers and other French-style roofs.
The building work was put under the direction of an architect, master-mason and sculptor, Jacques Bougier, who was very well-known in his time.
He also worked on a wing of the nearby Château de Blois.
His work on a royal castle shows Cheverny’s desire for quality.
Unfortunately, Bougier died before completing his work. Cheverny’s main staircase is the work of an unknown craftsman who simply left his initials and a date on the ground floor: FL 1634. The Château de Cheverny is perfectly preserved as it was built all at once.
Nothing has been changed.
Thanks to this, Cheverny has maintained the same exterior for the last 350 years, without gaining the smallest wrinkle!

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Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle

Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle, one of the most visited monuments is located in Orschwiller, Alsace, France. It is situated in the Vosges Mountains
and it occupied a strategic position when it was built back in the twelfth century.
The main purpose was to protect the wine
and the wheat routes to the north, and the silver and the salt routes from west to east.
There is a collection of medieval weapons
in the basement of the castle which includes crossbows, swords
and armors of different kinds. Inside the buildings the rooms are extremely impressive as the walls are covered with sculptures and paintings along with striking furniture.
The castle was built
in the twelfth century over the previous ruins which date back to the roman period.
The castle was burnt down in the fifteenth century but it was quickly reconstructed.
During the Thirty Years War, the castle was again burnt down
but this time it took centuries to complete its reconstruction.
In the present day, Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle seems like it sprang
out of the mythical past with ancient force.
The castle is one of the symbols of the Alsatian heritage and a perfect witness for European culture. Visitors will definitely
have an ideal environment to understand the castle architecture of middle ages.

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Fontainebleau

The palace at Fontainebleau was has architectural elements from the 16th to the 19th century.
In the 16th century, Henry II and Catherine de Medici commissioned architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant to build a new palace on the site.
Italian Mannerist artists Rosso Fiorentino and Primaticcio came
to assist in the interior decoration, helping to found the School of Fontainebleau..

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Chateau de Chambord

The royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because
of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture
that blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Italian structures.
Chambord is the largest castle in the Loire Valley, but was built to serve
only as a hunting lodge for François I, who maintained
his royal residences at Château de Blois and at Château d'Amboise.
The original design of the Château de Chambord is attributed, though with several doubts, to Domenico da Cortona, whose wooden model for the design survived long enough to be drawn by André Félibien in the seventeenth century.

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