The Château of Langeais is a dual-faceted building which is austere on the city side and delicately refined on the courtyard side. The estate is home to one of the oldest stone keeps in France which showcases the military architecture of the Middle Ages. In fact, the whole site tells of the Medieval period, and invites visitors to travel back in time to the era of knights and gentleladies at the dawn of the Renaissance.
From the city, the Château of Langeais is an impressive and imposing structure, but on the courtyard side and inside, it reveals a delicate charm. Visitors enter an authentic medieval setting brought to life by captivating scenography.
The fearsome and dreaded Fulk the Black took possession of Langeais in 994. He built a fortress on the rocky promontory in order to survey the major Roman road between Tours and Saumur. The last vestige of this defensive period is the stone keep, which is one of the oldest in France. Between the 10th and the 13th centuries war raged between the different Counts, and the château passed from hand to hand before entering French royal possession in 1206 after victory by King Philip Augustus over the Plantagenets. During the Hundred Years’ War, the fortress was seized and pillaged by the English, before being bought back by Charles VII in 1422. The king ordered the demolition of the castle residence but left the keep intact.
In 1465, Louis XI entrusted the construction of the current château to Jean Bourré, who was Treasurer of France at the time. This building project bore testimony to the architectural transition from the Medieval to the Renaissance style that was underway in the 15th century. On the city side, the imposing facade features a panoply of defensive mechanisms including tall towers, a chemin de ronde with machicolation and a drawbridge. On the courtyard side, the château takes on the appearance of a leisure residence with strong influences from the Pre-Renaissance style, with its numerous windows with mullions bringing light into the château and its doorways and windows adorned with lavish sculpted decoration.
It was in this setting that a key event took place in French history: the marriage of Charles VIII to Anne of Brittany, an act that definitively sealed the unification of Brittany with the kingdom of France. Langeais then lay peacefully dormant for a period of two centuries until 1766, when the château became the property of the Duke of Luynes. It was spared during the tribulations of the French Revolution and, a century later, was bought by its greatest benefactor, Jacques Siegfried.
Passionately interested in medieval art, Siegfried spent 20 years restoring and refurnishing the Château of Langeais with the aim of reconstructing the living spaces of the nobility in the late Middle Ages. In 1904, he sold the château and its collections to the Institut de France, which remains the owner to this day.
The layout and scenography in the Château of Langeais are designed to present life in Medieval times and each of the rooms unveils the creature comforts of the time. Multiple 15th- and 16th-century tapestries, Gothic furniture and period objets d’art plunge visitors into the everyday life of a lord at the start of the Renaissance period.
The Château of Langeais offers a fascinating and interactive visit for all ages that gives children the opportunity to step into the shoes of princes and princesses from the days of yore.
The fearsome and dreaded Fulk the Black took possession of Langeais in 994. He built a fortress on the rocky promontory in order to survey the major Roman road between Tours and Saumur. The last vestige of this defensive period is the stone keep, which is one of the oldest in France. Between the 10th and the 13th centuries war raged between the different Counts, and the château passed from hand to hand before entering French royal possession in 1206 after victory by King Philip Augustus over the Plantagenets. During the Hundred Years’ War, the fortress was seized and pillaged by the English, before being bought back by Charles VII in 1422. The king ordered the demolition of the castle residence but left the keep intact.
In 1465, Louis XI entrusted the construction of the current château to Jean Bourré, who was Treasurer of France at the time. This building project bore testimony to the architectural transition from the Medieval to the Renaissance style that was underway in the 15th century. On the city side, the imposing facade features a panoply of defensive mechanisms including tall towers, a chemin de ronde with machicolation and a drawbridge. On the courtyard side, the château takes on the appearance of a leisure residence with strong influences from the Pre-Renaissance style, with its numerous windows with mullions bringing light into the château and its doorways and windows adorned with lavish sculpted decoration.
It was in this setting that a key event took place in French history: the marriage of Charles VIII to Anne of Brittany, an act that definitively sealed the unification of Brittany with the kingdom of France. Langeais then lay peacefully dormant for a period of two centuries until 1766, when the château became the property of the Duke of Luynes. It was spared during the tribulations of the French Revolution and, a century later, was bought by its greatest benefactor, Jacques Siegfried.
Passionately interested in medieval art, Siegfried spent 20 years restoring and refurnishing the Château of Langeais with the aim of reconstructing the living spaces of the nobility in the late Middle Ages. In 1904, he sold the château and its collections to the Institut de France, which remains the owner to this day.
The layout and scenography in the Château of Langeais are designed to present life in Medieval times and each of the rooms unveils the creature comforts of the time. Multiple 15th- and 16th-century tapestries, Gothic furniture and period objets d’art plunge visitors into the everyday life of a lord at the start of the Renaissance period.
The Château of Langeais offers a fascinating and interactive visit for all ages that gives children the opportunity to step into the shoes of princes and princesses from the days of yore.
Not to be missed
One of the oldest stone keeps in France
Built at the end of the 10th century by Fulk the Black, the original fortress of Langeais lives on through its old stone keep, one of the oldest in France. The building is a priceless testimony to military architecture in the Middle Ages.
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CHATEAU ET PARC DE LANGEAIS
Château of Langeais and its park
37130, LANGEAIS
France
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From € 11.5 / person
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