Château de Rochambeau

English translation

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History

The castle, initially built in the 16th century, for the central part, was remodeled in the 18th century by the marshal de Rochambeau, with the addition of two large square pavilions and roofs in the Mansart style. The castle has belonged since the 16th century to the Vimeur de Rochambeau family. The marshal's chamber has not changed since his death, in 1807. Following a collapse of the cliff, facing the castle, a large retaining wall was constructed in 1841 of concave trace, in neoclassical taste, developed between two towers, and comprising a chapel at the centre and on either side, outbuildings. Behind this building, on entering under the rock, access is gained to the sump, a sort of open circular theatre, formerly planted with vines on the heights. The chapel was built by Abbé Brisacier in 1873, an atypical priest of Indre-et-Loire, who resigned from his duties to devote himself to sculpture and the architecture of churches! He notably restored many Touraine churches, created a statue of the Virgin Mary, in white marble, at Lourdes, and proposed the plans for the present Notre-Dame-de-France, in Jerusalem. The linden avenue, 2 km 8 long, was laid out by the marshal de Rochambeau, across the former game warren. It is planted with two rows of Holland limes, now bicentennial, bordering the Loir on its left bank, bordered on the opposite side by the cutting of the hillside. Honoré de Balzac evoked this avenue which he travelled, student at the Collège des Oratoriens of Vendôme, during Thursday walks. In the hillside, numerous grottos are pierced, some of which could well have been inhabited in prehistoric times.