The Château de Montpoupon is a castle in the commune of Céré-la-Ronde in the Indre-et-Loire département of France. It is situated to the east of Tours, 10 km south of Montrichard in a forested valley.
History
Originally a mediaeval fortress, the castle was altered by the lords of Prie and Buzançais. The postern was constructed in the 16th century.
Since the middle of 19th century, the castle has belonged to the Motte Saint Pierre family. It houses one of three French museums dedicated to hunting with dogs.
It has been listed since 1930 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

Château de Montpoupon

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The Château de Chenonceau is a French château spanning the River Cher, near the small village of Chenonceaux in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France. It is one of the best-known châteaux of the Loire valley.
The estate of Chenonceau is first mentioned in writing in the 11th century. The current château was built in 1514–1522 on the foundations of an old mill and was later extended to span the river. The bridge over the river was built (1556-1559) to designs by the French Renaissance architect Philibert de l'Orme, and the gallery on the bridge, built from 1570–1576 to designs by Jean Bullant.
An architectural mixture of late Gothic and early Renaissance, Château de Chenonceau and its gardens are open to the public. Other than the Royal Palace of Versailles, it is the most visited château in France.
The château has been classified as a Monument historique since 1840 by the French Ministry of Culture. Today, Chenonceau is a major tourist attraction and in 2007 received around 800,000 visitors.
History
The Marques family
In the 13th century, the fief of Chenonceau belonged to the Marques family. The original château was torched in 1412 to punish owner Jean Marques for an act of sedition. He rebuilt a château and fortified mill on the site in the 1430s. Jean Marques's indebted heir Pierre Marques found it necessary to sell.
Thomas Bohier
Thomas Bohier (fr), Chamberlain to King Charles VIII of France, purchased the castle from Pierre Marques in 1513 (this leads to 2013 being considered the 500th anniversary of the castle: MDXIII–MMXIII.) Bohier demolished the castle, though its 15th-century keep was left standing, and built an entirely new residence between 1515 and 1521. The work was overseen by his wife Katherine Briçonnet, who delighted in hosting French nobility, including King Francis I on two occasions.
Diane de Poitiers
In 1535 the château was seized from Bohier's son by King Francis I of France for unpaid debts to the Crown; after Francis' death in 1547, Henry II offered the château as a gift to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who became fervently attached to the château along the river. In 1555 she commissioned Philibert de l'Orme to build the arched bridge joining the château to its opposite bank. Diane then oversaw the planting of extensive flower and vegetable gardens along with a variety of fruit trees. Set along the banks of the river, but buttressed from flooding by stone terraces, the exquisite gardens were laid out in four triangles.
Diane de Poitiers was the unquestioned mistress of the castle, but ownership remained with the crown until 1555, when years of delicate legal maneuvers finally yielded possession to her.
Catherine de' Medici
After King Henry II died in 1559, his strong-willed widow and regent Catherine de' Medici forced Diane to exchange it for the Château Chaumont. Queen Catherine then made Chenonceau her own favorite residence, adding a new series of gardens.
As Regent of France, Catherine spent a fortune on the château and on spectacular nighttime parties. In 1560, the first ever fireworks display seen in France took place during the celebrations marking the ascension to the throne of Catherine's son Francis II. The grand gallery, which extended along the existing bridge to cross the entire river, was dedicated in 1577. Catherine also added rooms between the chapel and the library on the east side of the corps de logis, as well as a service wing on the west side of the entry courtyard.
Catherine considered an even greater expansion of the château, shown in an engraving published by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau in the second (1579) volume of his book Les plus excellents bastiments de France. If this project had been executed, the current château would have been only a small portion of an enormous manor laid out "like pincers around the existing buildings."
Louise de Lorraine
On Catherine's death in 1589 the château went to her daughter-in-law, Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont, wife of King Henry III. At Chenonceau Louise was told of her husband's assassination in 1589 and she fell into a state of depression, spending the remainder of her days wandering aimlessly along the château's corridors dressed in mourning clothes amidst somber black tapestries stitched with skulls and crossbones.
Duc de Vendôme
Henri IV obtained Chenonceau for his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées by paying the debts of Catherine de' Medici, which had been inherited by Louise and were threatening to ruin her. In return Louise left the château to her niece Françoise de Lorraine, at that time six years old and betrothed to the four-year-old César de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme, the natural son of Gabrielle d'Estrées and Henri IV. The château belonged to the Duc de Vendôme and his descendants for more than a hundred years. The Bourbons had little interest in the château, except for hunting. In 1650, Louis XIV was the last king of the ancien régime to visit.
The Château de Chenonceau was bought by the Duke of Bourbon in 1720. Little by little, he sold off all of the castle's contents. Many of the fine statues ended up at Versailles.
Louise Dupin
In 1733 the estate was sold for 130,000 livres to a wealthy squire named Claude Dupin (fr). His wife, Louise Dupin, was the natural daughter of the financier Samuel Bernard and the actress Manon Dancourt (fr), whose mother was also an actress who had joined the Comédie Française in 1684. Louise Dupin was "an intelligent, beautiful, and highly cultivated woman who had the theater in her blood." Claude Dupin, a widower, had a son, Louis Claude, from his first wife Marie Aurore of Saxony, who was the grandmother of George Sand (born Aurore Dupin).
Louise Dupin's literary salon at Chenonceau attracted such leaders of the Enlightenment as the writers Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Fontenelle, the naturalist Buffon, the playwright Marivaux, the philosopher Condillac, as well as the Marquise de Tencin and the Marquise du Deffand. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was Dupin's secretary and tutored her son. Rousseau, who worked on Émile at Chenonceau, wrote in his Confessions: "We played music there and staged comedies. I wrote a play in verse entitled Sylvie's Path, after the name of a path in the park along the Cher."
The widowed Louise Dupin saved the château from destruction during the French Revolution, preserving it from being destroyed by the Revolutionary Guard because "it was essential to travel and commerce, being the only bridge across the river for many miles."
Marguerite Pelouze
In 1864 Marguerite Pelouze (fr ), a rich heiress, acquired the château. Around 1875 she commissioned the architect Félix Roguet to restore it. He almost completely renewed the interior and removed several of Catherine de' Medici's additions, including the rooms between the library and the chapel and her alterations to the north facade, among which were figures of Hercules, Pallas, Apollo, and Cybele that were moved to the park. With the money Marguerite spent on these projects and elaborate parties, her finances were depleted, and the château was seized and sold.
Recent history
José-Emilio Terry, a Cuban millionaire, acquired Chenonceau from Madame Pelouze in 1891. Terry sold it in 1896 to a family member, Francisco Terry. In 1913, the château was acquired by Henri Menier, a member of the Menier family, famous for their chocolates, who still own it to this day.
During World War I Gaston Menier set up the gallery to be used as a hospital ward. During the Second World War the château was bombed by the Germans in June 1940. It was also a means of escaping from the Nazi occupied zone on one side of the River Cher to the "free" zone on the opposite bank. Occupied by the Germans, the château was bombed by the Allies on 7 June 1944, when the chapel was hit and its windows destroyed.
In 1951, the Menier family entrusted the château's restoration to Bernard Voisin, who brought the dilapidated structure and the gardens (ravaged in the Cher River flood in 1940) back to a reflection of its former glory.

Château de Chenonceau

The Château de Montrichard is a ruined 11th century castle located at the heart of the commune of Montrichard in the Loir-et-Cher département of France. The property of the commune, it has been listed since 1877 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
The castle was constructed by Foulques Nerra, Count of Anjou, and rebuilt in the 12th century. Henri IV ordered it to be dismantled in 1589. From the top of the keep visitors have a good view of the town of Montrichard and the Cher valley.

Château de Montrichard

The Château de Montrésor is a medieval castle with a Renaissance mansion built in the grounds, located in the French village of Montrésor in the département of Indre-et-Loire.
The Château de Montrésor has been listed since 1996 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture and is a popular visitor attraction.
History
Medieval fortress
Around 1005, Fulk Nerra, count of Anjou, chose a rocky overhang dominating the valley of the Indrois as the site to have a powerful fortress built by his captain Roger le Petit Diable ("Little Devil"). Montrésor had one of the first keeps built out of stone, similar to that at Loches, and two circular walls, of which today only the west wall remains. In the 12th century, Montrésor fell into the hands of Henry II of England and the imposing towers at the entrance were built, as well as a part of the northern curtain wall. In 1188, King Philip Augustus of France retook Montrésor from the English. André de Chauvigny, returning from the Third Crusade with Richard the Lionheart, became the new lord of Montrésor, before having to cede the castle for almost two centuries to the Palluau family.
Demolished in 1203, the castle was rebuilt in 1393 for Jean IV de Bueil by Jean Binet, who put up the enclosure wall, the gatehouse and the existing outbuildings.
Renaissance mansion
From the start of the 15th century, with the royal court spending more and more time in Touraine, Montrésor became a centre for courtiers and royal servants. In 1493, Imbert de Batarnay bought Montrésor to build an elegant residence in the feudal enclosure, of which only the main wing remains. Imbert was an influential councillor and chamberlain to four kings of France: Louis XI, Charles VIII, Louis XI and Francis I. His long tenure in this office was rare at the time, but he was skilful and cunning, and was present at all of the negotiations in his time - he was particularly responsible for arranging the marriage of Anne of Brittany to the king, sealing the joining of the Duchy of Brittany to the French kingdom. He was entrusted with preparations for war with Italy and the education of the children of Louis XII and François I.
A Polish landlord and benefactor
During the 17th and 18th centuries, other leading families - such as the Bourdeilles and the Beauvilliers - lived in the castle. The French Revolution marked the beginning of its decline. Around 1845, Count Louis-Jouffroy de Gonsans demolished the west wing of the Renaissance logis as well as the castle chapel.
In 1849, the mother of a Polish exiled magnate, Count Xavier Branicki, bought the dilapidated estate as a project for her son. He was a friend of emperor Napoleon III and, when he arrived, he gave new life to the village of Montrésor; he built new schools for girls and boys, restored the water supply, repaired the hospital and built a chapel in the grave-yard. Branicki had the castle completely restored. Over twenty years, he put on new roofs and equipped the interior with rich furnishings and art. He made his home into an archive and repository of polonica, Polish historical artefacts, which has now become a notable collection and museum. The house and its estate were the setting for hunting in the surrounding forests and sumptuous feasts with prince Napoléon, a cousin of the Emperor. Branicki had no legitimate heirs and the property passed to his younger brother, Konstanty. That line also came to an end. The castle is now owned by distant relatives by marriage and descendants of Mikolaj Rej.

Château de Montrésor

Château du Plessis-de-Vair is located Vair-sur-Loire (common delegated Anetz) in Loire-Atlantique. Castle Vair rents its rooms for private functions.In the twelfth century, powerful fortress surrounded by a moat, it inspires novels legendary Knights of the Round Table and the Holy Grail. In the fifteenth century castle replaces this feudal stronghold. It remains this time two round towers, dovecote and archives. In the seventeenth century, the castle became the seat of the Marquis of Châteaufromont (Anetz, Saint-Herblon, The Rouxière); the Marquis de Vair, Claude Cornulier (1633-1700), Chairman of the Parliament of Brittany, advisor of Louis XIV built the two square towers, chapel, orangery and two pavilions of the entrance. In the nineteenth century is built the central building and a row of light shows. The monument was listed as a historic monument in 1980 and 2003.
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-pays-de-la-loire/chateau-du-plessis-de-vair.html

Château du Plessis-de-Vair

The Château of the Du Fau Lords
In the 15th century, the du Fau family, who had just acquired the fiefdom, built a fortified castle.
Only the two round towers which frame the façade onto the gardens and the guards room remain from the castle of Jehan du Fau, who was Louis XI''s Grand Master of the  King''s Residence in Loches.
Reignac subsequently became the property of Pierre Forget, who was Secretary of State under Henri III and Henri IV, and responsible for drawing up the Edict of Nantes. 
The castle then became the property of Aymard de Chouppes, Chevalier of the King''s Order, King''s Counsellor, Lieutenant General in his Armies, and childhood friend of Louis XIII.
The Château of Louis de Barberin
In March 1710, King Louis XIV raised the Baron du Fau to the rank of Marquis de Reignac sur Indre, in order to reward "Our dearly beloved friend Louis de Barberin, Knight, Count of Reignac”. Louis de Barberin commenced major alteration work to adapt the château to current tastes: the moat was filled in, a vast formal park and garden were laid out, outhouses were built to the south-west and an east wing perpendicular to the house was added. A chapel, dedicated to Saint Louis, was built as an extension to the main body of the house.
The chapel''s foundation stone was blessed on 30th July 1717, and two years later the chapel''s founder was buried there. Marie Marguerite de Rarécourt de la Vallée-Pimodan, Louis de Barberin''s wife, commissioned Claude Dubois, a sculptor from Dijon, to carve the sumptuous marble mausoleum in his memory. The General Marquis de Lafayette inherited Reignac when his mother, Marie Julie de la Rivière, Louis de Barberin''s great-granddaughter came into her inheritance. The marquis and his wife, née Adrienne de Noailles, stayed frequently in Reignac until 1792 when the Lafayette family relinquished the château.
The Château in the 19th century
In 1861, the Müller family bought Reignac and with the help of Collet, the architect, re-vamped the property in neo-gothic style. 
Edouard Müller was the mayor of Reignac from 1873 to 1913 and deputy for the Loches constituency from 1890 to 1893. 
It was due to him that the little town of Reignac gradually modernised: a station, a post office, a library, a fire station and a new washhouse were all installed. 
Around 1900, the château boasted electric lighting generated by its water-wheel on the Indre river. However, in 1911, the Henrotte-Müller bank went bankrupt and the Müller assets were seized. 
The château then became the property of the Vibraye-Cheverny family until 1984.
Château de Reignac Today
In 2002, the château was bought by Erick Charrier, a former advertising agent, who had it restored and redecorated. 
Today, Château de Reignac remains a uniquely elegant home in the Loire Valley. 
The guests staying here will feel the presence of the famous owners of the past, yet will appreciate the modern comforts of the twenty-first century.
http://www.lechateaudereignac.com

Château de Reignac

Château du Gué-Péan is a French castle in Monthou-sur-Cher in the department of Loir-et-Cher, in region Centre-Val de Loire.The presence of a Roman road near the castle, which crossed the stream by a ford, gave the first name to the locality: the paid ford, which later becomes the Gué-Péan. This is the fifteenth century that the Alaman family bought the manor and built the castle. The manor was built in châtellenie by François Alaman, vassal of the lord of Saint Aignan. His son toddler who finished building the castle. In October 1676, Charlotte Alaman sells the Gué-Péan and outbuildings to François de la Motte Villebret Count Aspremont. It is then Amelot family takes possession of the castle for 62 years. Then comes the family Cassin, owner of the Gué-Péan in 1832. They are the first to live there. The orangery was born in 1885 and the castle and has a winter garden. On 7 March 1952, much of the castle is classified historic monument. In 1961 the castle was sold to Mr. Kéguelin Rozières and later to Mr Laming. (Architect of Futuroscope).
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-centre/chateau-du-gue-pean.html

Château du Gué-Péan

The Château de Loches (also called Le Logis Royal de Loches) is a castle located in the département of Indre-et-Loire in the Loire valley in France; it was constructed in the 9th century. Built some 500 metres (1,600 ft) away from the Indre River, the huge castle, famous mostly for its massive square keep, dominates the town of Loches. The castle was captured by King Philip II of France in 1204. In 1985 it was converted into a museum, and has one of the most extensive collections of medieval armour in France.
History
The castle was occupied by Henry II of England and his son, Richard the Lionheart during the 12th century, it withstood the assaults by the French king Philip II in their wars for control of France until it was finally captured by Philip in 1204. Construction work immediately upgraded Loches into a huge military fortress.
The castle would become a favourite residence of Charles VII of France, who gave it to his mistress, Agnès Sorel, as her residence. It would be converted for use as a State prison by his son, King Louis XI who had lived there as a child but preferred the royal castle in Amboise.
In December 1699 Henriette-Julie de Murat was involved in a scandal when a report was circulated accusing her of "shocking practices and beliefs" including lesbianism. She was estranged from her husband and disinherited by her mother, forced to take a hiatus from publishing, and eventually exiled to the Château de Loches in 1702; in 1701 her debauchery was considered confirmed by the fact that she was pregnant. She tried to escape from the Château de Loches in 1706 wearing men's clothing. She was then transferred to two other prisons before being brought back to the Château de Loches in 1707. In 1709 she obtained partial liberty from the Countess d'Argenton on the condition that she return to her aunt's home.
During the American Revolution, France financed and fought with the Americans against England and King Louis XVI used the castle of Loches as a prison for captured Englishmen.
At the time of the French Revolution, the château was ransacked and severely damaged. Some major restoration began in 1806 but today there are parts visible as ruins only. Owned by the Commune of Loches, the castle and the adjacent ancient Church of Saint-Ours are open to the public.
The Château de Loches has been recognised as a monument historique since 1861 and is listed by the French Ministry of Culture.
Layout
The 11th-century keep – built by Fulk III, Count of Anjou – measures 23.3 by 15.4 metres (76 by 51 ft) with walls 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) thick. Its four storeys stand 37 m (121 ft) high. Each floor was a single room. As was typical of most keeps, the ground floor was mostly likely used for storage.

Château de Loches

The Oiselinière estate was, before the French Revolution a 'Seigniory'. It is mentioned as early as 1335 in the charter 'Les Actes'. It spreads over the districts of Gorges and Clisson, and under the feudal system depended on the Seigneurs of Clisson and Pallet. For 643 years, this Seigniory only changed families four times: Maurice le Meigen was the owner, then in 1460 one of this descendants through allegiance, Claude Grézeau took over. His family sold the seigniory of the Oiselinière to Jean Goulet de la Fosse de Nantes in 1613. Louis de la Bourdonnaye acquired the property in 1658. Then in 1767, the seigniory was sold to the ancestors of the Aulanier family (This family made a great contribution in the Second World War, Oselinière being a hotbed of resistance).
The castle is a villa built in Italian style between 1822 and 1835 to enclose a square courtyard dated from the 17th century. The villa, the outbuildings, the orangery and the gallery of 'Les Illustres' are included in the inventory of historical monuments since 1997 and are cited as reference in the inventory 'Clisson or return to Italy.'
To the west of the villa, near the orangery stands a set of architectural interest with six niches on its main facade which are made of circular brick and adorned with busts of famous men. From left to right, we can recognize Olivier de Clisson, Conde, Duquesne, Jean Bart, and Bayard Duguesclin.
https://www.spottinghistory.com/view/3468/chateau-de-loiseliniere/

Château de Oiselinière

Travel through 800 years of history at the Château of Clos Lucé
During the middle age (1214 – 1417) the domain belongs to the Amboise family, who gave the land of Cloux as a gift to the religious Cistercian order of Moncé, an abbey founded in Limeray, under the protection of the lords of Amboise.
The saga of this pink bricks and freestone domain, built over gallo-roman foundations, begins under the reign of Louis XI, in 1471. Given by the king to his favourite Etienne le Loup, an ennobled kitchen man, the Château du Cloux was surrounded by fortified walls. The place is then bought by Charles VIII on July the 2 nd 1490 to become the summer residence of the kings of France.
The king turns the fortress into a pleasure castle and builds an oratory, true jewel of the gothic architecture, for his wife Queen Anne de Bretagne. The young duke of Angoulême, future king Francis I, spends a lot of time in this château.
At the end of the XVII century, the Château du Clouxis named Château du Clos Lucé. It’s recovered by the Amboise Family who saves it from destruction during the revolution, and then, in 1854, it becomes part of the Saint Bris Family.
For more information, download "Château du Clos Lucé: Leonardo da Vinci’s home" app on Appstore.
At the Château du Clos Lucé, dive into French History
1471:
King Louis XI gives the domain of Cloux, known today as the Château du Clos Lucé, to a former ennobled kitchen boy named Etienne le Loup. He built the Château du Clos Lucé with bricks and freestone, as well as one of France’s most beautiful dovecotes, untouched until today. Inside you’ll hear the flapping of the thousand birds it used to shelter.
1490 :
The Clos Lucé becomes the summerhouse of the kings of France. Charles VIII asks for a chapel to be built for his young wife, Queen Anne de Bretagne, who comes to mourn the loss of her young children. The chapel is decorated with four frescos, including the Annunciation, which was painted by Leonardo’s pupils. The Virgin of light, « Virgo Lucis », above the door, may have given the site its current name: Château du Clos Lucé.
1516-1519 : 
King Francis I and Louise de Savoie invite Leonardo da Vinci to Amboise. 
King Francis I, passionate by Leonardo da Vinci’s talent, names him “ Premier Painter and Engineer and Architect of the King" and offers him the enjoyment of the Château of Clos Lucé, located only a few meters away from the Château d’Amboise. The national archives in Paris own a certificate for payement mentioning the pension from Francis I to Leonardo da Vinci « To Master Lyenard de Vince, Italian painter, the sum of 2000 ecussoleil, for his pension of two years ».
Leonardo spends the last three years of his life at the Château of Clos Lucé and works on several projects for the king of France, surrounded by his students. He welcomes prestigious visitors like the Cardinal of Aragon, great men of the kingdom, Italian ambassadors and fellow artists present in the king’s court, like Domenico da Cortona, known as the Boccador and Chambord’s future architect.
An underground passage between the two castles allowsboth men to meet frequently. Today, only the first meters are still visible.
After a fascinating relationship between Leonardo da Vinci and three French Kings(Charles VIII, Louis XII and Francis I), the Italian Master passes away on May the 2 nd 1519 in his room at the Château du Clos Lucé.
Imagine Leonardo da Vinci’s journey through the Alps in 1516
Facing the young artists of the Italian Renaissance, Raphael and Michelangelo, on fall 1516, Leonardo da Vinci accepts the invitation of the king at 64 years old and travelsthrough the Alps on the back of a mule with some of his pupils, including Francesco Melzi and Battista de Villanis his faithful Milanese servant. He also brings with him his major paintings: Monna Lisa, the Virgin and the Child and St.John the Baptist as well as his notes, sketches and manuscripts, later gathered in the codex, today spread throughout the world.
According to an account by the secretary to the Cardinal of Aragon, who was visiting the Château du Clos Lucé, they saw, "the painting of a Florentine woman, done from life, at the instance of Giuliano de' Medici." Painted between 1503 and 1514, this work is an example of Leonardo da Vinci's famous sfumato technique, in which the edges are blurred and softened.
The Clos Lucé - Mathurine's kitchen
Visit the rooms of the château and imagine Leonardo living and working there
Leonardo's bedchamber looked out on the Château Royal d’Amboise. It was in this house that he wrote his will, bequeathing his manuscripts and notebooks of drawings and sketches to his beloved disciple Franceso Melzi. He passed away in his bedchamber on 2 May 1519.
The bedchamber of Marguerite de Navarre, the elder sister of Francis I, has been fully restored and furnished in the 16th-century style. Her portrait by François Clouet, official painter to the king, is on show in one of the display cabinets.
The oratory of Anne of Brittany, the wife of Charles VIII, is decorated with four frescoes, including one of the Annunciation painted by disciples of Leonardo. Above the door, the Virgin of Light, Virgo Lucis, is thought to have been the inspiration for the château’s new name: Le Clos Lucé.
On the ground floor of the building, find the Leonardo Da Vinci's living workshops. Discover the ambiance of the bottegas that were typical of the Renaissance in his artist's studio. In the library, facsimiles from the Institut de France and ancient texts are aligned alongside an astonishing cabinet of curiosities. Swept away, an audiovisual production that uses “ghost technology” is projected.
In this artist’s house, from his workshop, Leonardo da Vinci thinks, invents and conceives royal requests:
- The ideal city of Romorantin destined to become the capital of the kingdom.
- The double helix staircase of the Château de Chambord that he inspired.
- A network of locks and canals connecting the Val de Loire to Lyon,for a swifter access to Italy.
- The draining of Sologne’s swamps
- The staging for spectacular royal celebrations, he imagines many automatons like the « Lys flower spitting lion ».
- Movable houses for the itinerant court.
« Because the soup is getting cold, etcaetera. » this sentence would have been found in one of Leonardo’s writings. Imagine entering the unchanged kitchen and see Leonardo getting warm next to the high stone hearth whileMathurine, his servant from Tours, prepares his vegetarian meal.
Leonardo has a healthy nutrition, according to him « sobriety, healthy meals and a proper sleep will keep you in good health».
The four visitor rooms in the basement provide insight into the comprehensive knowledge of Leonardo da Vinci the engineer. 3D animations and 40 models show the diverse range of Leonardo da Vinci’s intuitive grasp of engineering: aeroplane, automobile, helicopter, tank, and more.
In Leonardo’s garden: Learn how nature inspired his work
Self-taught man, Leonardo da Vinci is one of the firsts to invent experimental science. He elaborates a new way of learning, away from his books, by observing nature and finding his answers in it.
At Le Clos Lucé, Leonardo’s garden was imagined the same way: all the answers to the questions about the Master are here, accessible to children and grown ups.
The trees, plants and even the moving water described on the codex and paintings come back to life in this garden dedicated to nature. Rocks, caves, streams, waterfalls, misty effects reminding the sfumato technique… Here, even the slightest details of his work are brought to life.
Walk around the pond surrounded by centuries-old pines, Italian cypresses and yews. There, admire madonna lilies, yellow irises, horned violets, European alders, cyclamen repandums, and of course, the famous Mona Lisarose.
As Leonardo used to say: « It’s all here. »
This unique open-air museum is born thanks to the competition of a two years research on a corpus of science collecting all of Leonardo da Vinci’s work on nature.
In the Park Leonardo da Vinci, experience the creative universe of the Master
As you walk, you meet Leonardo the engineer, Leonardo the visionary and Leonardo the painter and architect. In the park, climb aboard the assault chariot, action the aerial screw, manipulate the multi-barrelled gun, sail on the paddle boat and walk on the revolving bridge and the twenty meters high double-span bridge, all crafted the original way. Because the models are the actual size, they offer an authentic experience to both children and adults. Look at the forty translucent canvasses suspended to the trees, each one three to four meters tall.
Discover the bright faces, the beautiful bodies, the mechanics of life, the technical projects of the ideal city... Let the voice of Jean Piat, from the ComédieFrançaise, guide you as he plays the role of the Master throughout your visit.
The Leonardo da Vinci park is a unique journey among the genius’s pieces of work.
10 years of creating and restoring
Works carried out over the past 10 years :
2003 
The external facades of the chapel, as well as the corner turret housing the spiral staircase are restored. Creation of the Parc Culturel Leonardo da Vinci, animated by 20 life size models of the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci, 40 giant canvases illustrating paintings and drawings of the master and 8 interactive terminals in a protected 7 hectares wooded park.
From 2004 to 2007 
A major restoration campaign, directed by Arnaud de Saint-Jouan, chief architect of historic monuments, led to a four year work on the walls of the castle and of the XV century priory where the renaissance restaurant is today.
2008
The Château du Clos Lucé creates a new place: « Leonardo’s Garden », dédicated to Leonardo da Vinci and nature, holding sustainable development values.
2010 – 2016 
A complete inner restauration campaign is set to finalize Leonardo da Vinci’s residence restoration, just as he knew it. The first part 2010 – 2011: restoration of Leonardo’s bedroom and the adjoining one of Marguerite de Navarre. The second part 2012 – 2014: restoration of the monumental dressed stone stairs.
Leonardo da Vinci's living workshops
Leonardo da Vinci’s workshops put the final touch on the immense restoration project led by the Saint Bris family. 
Located in a 100 m2 space on the ground floor of the building, these three rooms – previously closed to the public – have been restored with the aim of immersing visitors in the abundant creativity and the work environment that reigned at the time. Shadow and light, a recurring theme for Leonardo da Vinci (and theorized in his A Treatise on Painting), guide each guest through a day in the life of the Master, from morning to night. In each room, the décor has been recreated with incredible attention to detail: original frescoes repainted in pigments used during the Renaissance, furniture produced from plans from the era and stained glass with small circular panes that bathe the rooms in the captivating atmosphere of shadow and light beloved by the Master.
Two years of research and renovation, 30 people and 15 trades were required to restore Leonardo da Vinci’s workshops, library and study at Le Clos Lucé.
http://www.vinci-closluce.com

Manoir du Clos-Lucé

The château de Nitray was built in the XVIth century to replace an older castle, probably dating back the XIIIth century.
« In 1250, this feud belonged to knight William du Plessis; in 1263, to Pierre de la Brosse to whom it was given by his uncle, Jean de la Brosse, Canon of Le Mans; in 1453, to Jean Lopin, who, by Act of March 11th, gave the “high Justice” of this feud to Aymar de la Rochefoucauld, Lord of Montbazon; in 1516, to Emery Lopin, master of requests of the Queen Mother, Mayor of Tours; in 1531, to Jean Binet; in 1560, to Emery Binet; in 1580, to Marie Binet, wife of Charles Daen; in 1600, to Pierre Binet; in 1642, to François Daen; in 1680, to César Daen; in 1728, to Mathieu Duchamp; in 1789, to Philippe-Jean-Baptiste Mignon, Crown prosecutor at the Tours finance office; in 1807, to General of Empire Jean-Jacques Liébert. »
Excerpts from “Nitray à Athée-sur-Cher” by André MONTOUX.
Its development is linked to the history of France since Aimery Lopin, Mayor of Tours and Master of requests of Louise de Savoie, mother of François 1st, decided the building of this castle.
Seventeen families have owned the castle since the building of the castle, in particular the family of General of Empire Jean-Jacques Liébert from 1807 to 1922.
On October 1st, 1955, the estate was sold on execution at the request of Mr. Georges-Marie Dermy who pursued Mr. Taillandier, industrial residing in Cameroon, who seems not to have paid the whole price settled in 1953. The starting price was made at 14,500,000 old French francs by public auction. As no purchaser stood, the estate was purchased on October 17th, 1955 by the family Brebart d’Halluin. Etienne d’Halluin implemented the first renovations: roof of the castle, the dovecote and the hunting lodge and then reorganized the vineyard to bring it to 15 hectares.
Since 1989, Earl Hubert de l’Espinay, son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. d’Halluin, has been pursuing the work of his father-in-law transforming the sale of wine from bulk to bottle, improving vinification and creating two other activities to improve the estate returns on income: a tourist activity and room rental activity.
Today the château de Nitray welcomes 8 000 visitors a year, including many French and foreign tourists as well as business seminars, wedding type family receptions, birthdays, family meetings, etc.
http://www.chateau-nitray.fr