The Renaissance Chateau de Chambord built in the Loire Valley for François I boasts 440 rooms and a double helix staircase designed by Leonardo da Vinci
Centre Val de Loire
Usse Castle – Sleeping Beauty’s Chateau
Usse Castle in the Loire Valley, the source of inspiration for the writer Charles Perrault when he sought a setting for his fairytale Sleeping Beauty
Amboise Castle – Early Renaissance Chateau
Amboise Castle, the first Renaissance chateau built in the Loire Valley includes the Chapelle St-Hubert where Leonardo da Vinci is believed to be buried
Azay le Rideau Castle – Chateau Renaissance
Azay le Rideau Castle along the Indre in the Loire Valley, a masterpiece of French Renaissance architecture and small replica of the Chateau de Chenonceau
Chateau de Chaumont sur Loire – Diane de Poitiers
Chateau de Chaumont sur Loire, also known as Chateau de Diane de Poitiers, the favourite of Henri II, is known for its lavish decoration and stables
Chateau de Langeais – Keep – Castle Loire Valley
Chateau de Langeais, a traditional medieval fortress built next to Fulk Nerra’s keep, the oldest stone dungeon remaining in France
Chateau de Plessis les Tours – Loire Valley
Chateau de Plessis les Tours in the outskirts of Tours in the Loire Valley, the only remaining building of the castle where King Louis XI died in 1483
Chateau de Sully sur Loire – Castle Loire Valley
The Chateau de Sully sur Loire was bought by Maximilien de Béthune Lord of Rosny, a brilliant administrator and financier, and eminence grise of Henri IV
Chateau du Clos Luce – Leonardo da Vinci
Chateau du Clos Luce in Amboise, the last residence of Leonardo da Vinci, runs a permanent exhibition of 40 of his most famous inventions recreated by IBM
Germigny des Pres Church – Carolingian architecture
Germigny des Pres Church, one of the oldest churches in France and rare illustration of Carolingian architecture, boasts a 1500-year old mosaic from Ravenna
The River Loire and the Grande Levée d’Anjou
La Grande Levée d’Anjou restrains the River Loire, the longest French river and last untamed river of Europe, from flooding its rich alluvial valley
St Cosme Priory – Loire Valley – Ronsard
St Cosme Priory was founded near Tours in 1092, his prior Pierre de Ronsard was the co-founder of the French Renaissance poetry group known as La Pléiade