The gardens of the château of Villandry 

THE GARDENS OF THE CHÂTEAU OF VILLANDRY: THE LEGACY OF A PASSIONATE COUPLE 

The Château of Villandry was gradually disappearing in a forest of greenery when Doctor Joachim Carvallo and his wife Anne Coleman, heiress to an American steel empire, fell in love with the place and bought it in the 20th century. With the help of a team of 100 stonemasons, they soon restored the Renaissance beauty to the facades, but Joachim’s greatest project was the gardens, which he recreated with all the rigour of the scientist that he was.

THE GARDENS OF THE CHÂTEAU OF VILLANDRY: SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE 

THE ORNAMENTAL GARDEN

The Ornamental Garden is composed of two salons, the first of which contains two gardens. The first is the Love Garden, which is a blend of colours and geometric designs symbolising the four forms of love: pink is tender, red is often passionate and can sometimes turn tragic, while yellow is fickle.
The second garden in the first Ornamental salon is the Garden of Crosses, in which the layout forms the shapes of three crosses that experts will immediately recognise as the Maltese Cross, the Languedoc Cross and the Basque Country Cross.

The second salon is dedicated to music, which is symbolically evoked by box trees. Sharp-eyed visitors will be able to identify the harps and lyres represented by large triangles. You can almost hear a gentle melody emanating from these poetic instruments… This picturesque musical decor musical is illuminated by yew trees in the form of candelabras.

THE WATER GARDEN 

Just next to the Ornamental Garden is the Water Garden with its mesmerising water mirror, which defines the atmosphere of the garden by itself by reflecting the sky and its changing colours each day. Sometimes gloomy, sometimes fiery, the sky truly sets the tempo.

Without doubt, the Water Garden is the ideal spot for those in search of a moment’s relaxation while listening to the gentle sound of the water.

THE KITCHEN GARDEN 

The ornamental kitchen garden is the jewel in the crown of the Gardens of Villandry. It is stunningly beautiful with its a pure, fully Renaissance style and harmonious blend of shapes and colours in the nine identically sized squares home to a mix of vegetables and flowers. You can’t help but be moved by the perfection. Admire the outstanding work of the gardeners, who have two planting periods per year and cultivate no fewer than 40 species of vegetables over the seasons. The symphony of changing colours is a feast for the eyes and gives the impression of a giant, multi-coloured checkerboard!

While the Kitchen Garden, Water Garden and two salons of the Ornamental Garden are meticulous reconstructions of the Renaissance French formal gardens, the Sun Garden, Herb Garden and Maze are more liberal interpretations of the historical designs, but that doesn’t make them any less worth a visit! Visitors can have fun getting lost in the plant Maze, smelling the aromatic herbs in the Herb Garden and admiring the stunning yellow and orange hues of the plants in the Sun Garden.

Needless to say, the gardens of the Château of Villandry won’t fail to surprise you with their unrivalled variety!

NATURAL GARDENS 

The team of 10 gardeners have taken up the challenge by adopting new methods to eliminate the use of chemicals. They all have to keep an eye out to prevent any attacks! Insecticides have been replaced by “living auxiliaries”, which act as parasites or predators that ward off pests such as linden mites. The garden has seen a spontaneous return of insects, many of which are natural enemies of aphids or cabbage root flies and lead their own counterattack! Four beehives installed on the terraces complete this miniature army. Traditional tools have also made a return, such as broadforks instead of spades to preserve the microscopic life of the soil!

F. Paillet

EVENTS AT THE GARDENS OF THE CHÂTEAU OF VILLANDRY

No description of the Gardens of the Château of Villandry would be complete without mentioning its main event, the “Nuits des Mille Feux” (Nights of a Thousand Lights), held on several evenings in summer. During the event, the gardens are lit with 2,000 candles and contain intriguing figures… the perfect opportunity to discover Villandry in a new way!

 

For those who want to celebrate the arrival of autumn, the “Journées du Potager” (Kitchen Garden Days) are not to be missed for both seasoned gardeners and novices alike! A true highlight of the year…

THE GARDENS OF THE CHÂTEAU OF VILLANDRY ARE ACCESSIBLE FOR DISABLED PEOPLE 

The château has put in place many tools and measures to help make the gardens accessible to all, including reduced-mobility trails in the gardens, disabled toilets, a tactile model of the château, a sub-titled video of inaccessible spaces and the gardens in different seasons and a Braille visitor guide.
Disability-friendly and sensory guided tours of the site can also be booked.

FAQ

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