Tíbet

The Château of Valençay is with Valençay, in Indre (France). It was the property of John Law, then prince de Talleyrand. Although located in the Berry, its construction connects it with the Loire ch4ateau, in particular with the Château of Chambord.

In an enthusiastic dash, George Sand wrote about it: “This place is one of most beautiful of the ground and no king has a more picturesque park”.

Presentation

External architecture shows the three traditional orders superimposing itself on the pilasters: Doric order at the ground floor, Ionic order on the first floor and Corinthian Order with the second.

The interior living rooms lodge a sumptuous furniture, mainly of Empire style. The residence counts a hundred parts, including 25 apartments of Master. A gallery, long of almost 80 m, runs all along the first stage and serves the apartments.

The surface of the park is of forty hectares. The garden with the Frenchwoman dates from the beginning of the 20th century and part of the grounds was transformed into an animalist park. In the commun runs of the castle, a splendid theater of pocket (200 places) was built by Talleyrand for the approval of princes d' Espagne.

One of the many interests of this monument is that it preserves part of its furniture (in particular Empire), at least in the parts which are visited. Indeed, since the beginning of the XXe century part of this furniture left the castle. Until the end of the XIXe century the building sheltered a splendid library and very beautiful masterpieces.

History

Construction began in 1540 with the order from Jacques d' Estampes, to replace a manor of the 12th century. It continued until the 18th century, with the construction of the Southern tower. The last duke, Boson of Talleyrand-Valençay, also brought his personal key to him, in particular making close by French windows the gallery with arcades located in the main courtyard.

The castle was bought in 1803 by Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord at the request of Napoleon Bonaparte, in order to receive foreign dignitaries. Marie-Antoine Lent was his chief of mouth there. Ferdinand VII of Spain was retained there of 1808 in December 1813; the treaty of Valençay returned the crown of Spain then to him.

At the end of the “reign” of Talleyrand, its property extended on 23 communes from the department from Indre. One estimated (wrongly it seems) his surface at 220 km ².

The last duke of Valençay, Boson, died in 1952, was also prince of Sagan, a principality located today in Poland, but which before the Second world war belonged to Prussia. The castle, which sheltered part of works of the Musée of the Louvre, of which the ancient statuary (Venus de Milo and Victoire de Samothrace in particular), the cabinet of the drawings and jewels of the Crown, at the time of the Second world war, escaped from little from the destruction on August 16th, 1944. This day a German division invested the city indeed, in reprisals with the actions of the men of the maquis installed in the very close forest. Boson of Talleyrand (prevailing itself of its title of prince de Sagan), and especially Gerard Van Der Kemp (future conservative as a chief of Versailles) last parlementer with the Germans so that the latter save the castle. In the city-even forty buildings were the prey of the flames and eight people were assassinated. The vault of the alms house where Talleyrant rests was it also destroyed, then rebuilt at the end of the Fifties.

With his death, the duke Boson did not have a direct descent. He bequeathed his property and his fortune to his son-in-law (the son of its 3rd wife). This last sold the castle in 1979, with an association in particular gathering the department of Indre and the commune of Valençay.

The duke and his wife rest in the crypt of the vault located close to the town hall of Valençay. There other Talleyrand family members are, of which the diplomat Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince-duke of Talleyrand, duke of Dino (1754-1838).

Since many years, the dependences of the castle do not shelter any more the museum Talleyrand, the objects and pieces of furniture having been reinstalled in the castle. The museum of the car, also, left the dependences to him (the old horse-gear now disappeared, which was before that the hangar where the duke Boson of Talleyrand-Valençay stationed his personal plane). This museum is from now on which occurred Resistance to Valençay, in an old supermarket, located very close to the station. This station built out of micaceous chalk stone at the beginning of the XXe century, on grounds given by the family of Talleyrand, is classified historic building.

External bonds

  • Official site

Sources

  • Loire ch4ateau , Guide of Michelin tourism, ISBN 2-06-031705-3
  • Official site of the castle

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