Château de Champchevrier

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

The fief formerly came under Sablé. The fortress was built in the Middle Ages and is known from 1109 as a fortified place. In the 16th century, it was replaced by a château built in the late Renaissance style, and dominated by a tall hexagonal tower containing the staircase. In the 18th century, the tower which rose in the axis of the main façade was demolished and the dormers were replaced by oculi. At the windows, cross-mullioned windows succeeded stone cross-bars. To the west two buildings of two storeys were added, covered with terraces, and the old small north-west pavilion became a staircase where woodwork from the château of Richelieu was installed. At the beginning of the 20th century, the façade overlooking the gardens was restored, the dormers and cornice were reinstated. Inside, the château has retained furnishings of the 17th and 18th centuries, and numerous tapestries, in particular a series of mythological scenes woven at the Gobelins from cartoons by Simon Vouet. In the pavilion projecting to the west, on the second floor, a room contains compartmented wainscoting painted with bouquets of flowers, small figures and views of the château harmonizing with a ceiling decorated in the same spirit. Cordovan and Venetian leather adorns the walls. Moats, dug in the 17th century by the regiment of the Duke of Roquelaure, frame the estate. In the 18th century, a great terrace bordered by balustrades was laid out along the main façade. At the north-east angle of the terrace stands a chapel which existed before the alterations to the château. The outbuildings include a dovecote and buildings of the 18th century.