Outstanding châteaux of France

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The imposing peaks and impeccable gardens of France's great châteaux are among the glories of its architectural heritage. Some are literal castles, fortified with battlements and stout walls to repel attacks, but most were built as manor houses for aristocratic families, the equivalent of the English country house. Châteaux are found all over France, with architectural styles depending as much on the budget and imagination of the original owners as on the period of their construction. But by far the greatest concentration is in the Loire Valley, where some 300 of these grand residences now form stages on a hugely popular tourist trail.

Published: 2013-05-31 14:00:35 UTC

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Château de Dampierre

The Château de Dampierre is a French Baroque château in Dampierre-en-Yvelines, Ile-de-France. It was built for the Duke of Chevreuse in the second half of the 17th century, and stands in a park laid out by Le Nôtre, designer of the gardens at Versailles.

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Château de Chenonceau

The Château de Chenonceau is a manor house built across the River Cher in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley. It was built in the sixteenth century for the noblewoman Kathérine Briconnet and subsequently added to by Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici, leading to its nickname the "Château des Dames". During the Second World War its long gallery spanned the demarcation line between Occupied and Free France.

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Château de Longecourt-en-Plaine

The Château de Longuecourt, in Bourgogne in eastern France, stands on the site of a small castle originally built in the 13th century. It was substantially rebuilt by new owners in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and was requisitioned in turn by the German and American armies during the Second World War. It is now in private hands.

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Château d'Ô

The Norman Renaissance Château d'Ô, near Mortrée in the Orne department of Normandy, northwestern France, was built in the 14th-15th century on the site of an 11th-century fortress, and added to in the 16th and 17th centuries. Although it bears the name of the d'Ô family who built it (and who ran it into bankruptcy in the 16th century), its title also puns on 'chateau d'eau' as the house is surrounded by water.

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Château d'Azay-le-Rideau

The Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, whose walls rise sheer out of the River Indre in west central France, was built in the 16th century by the King of France's treasurer and, after a chequered history, was bought by the French state at the beginning of the 20th century. Balzac, a dinner guest in the 19th century, described it as "a faceted diamond set in the River Indre".

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Château de Pierrefonds

The Château de Pierrefonds, in the forest of Compiègne north of Paris, was built in the 14th century by Louis d'Orléans, prince of France, on the site of an 11th-century castle. Work on it stopped, however, when Louis was assassinated in Paris in 1407. It was razed by Richelieu's troops in the 17th century, and restored by the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the 1800s.

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Château de Val

The Château de Val was built in the 14th-15th century by the King of France's chamberlain, Guillaume IV d'Estaing. It originally overlooked a valley, but is now dramatically reflected in the waters of an artificial lake created in the 1950s by the building of a hydroelectric dam.

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Château de La Treyne

The Château de La Treyne, perched dramatically above the Dordogne in southwestern France, was mostly built in the 17th century, though parts date from the 14th. It is now a luxury hotel.

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Château d'Ermenonville

The Château d'Ermenonville in northern France was extensively remodelled in the 17th century, though the site dates to medieval times. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau died here while on a visit in the 18th century, and his body was buried in the park before being transferred, years later, to Paris. During the Revolution the château bore his name. It is now a hotel.

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Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers

The Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers is a ruined château in the Loudunais region of west central France with an unfortunate history. Begun in the 13th century and added to in the 16th and 17th, it was substantially damaged in the French Revolution, and restoration work done in the 19th century was undone again by a fire in the 1930s. Both building and grounds are now ruined and overgrown.