Château de Saché

The Sache Castle is situated on the outskirts of the village Sache in the Indre- et- Loire southeast of Tours in France. The building was a historical monument in 1932 and is home to a Balzacmuseum since 1951. It is one of the castles of the Loire.

History

Already existed in the 14th century at the same location a predecessor, of which only a remnant of the former city wall is left today. In the 15th century a new construction of the building, which was extended in the late 16th century took place. Jean de Margonne it had to adapt in the early 19th century to the then prevailing taste.

Jean de Margonne was the fatherly friend and supporter of Honoré de Balzac. Born in Tours and Paris-based writer gave him an opportunity to withdraw 1824-1837 and over again for a long time here. Some of his novels has arisen in this castle in the heart of his beloved Touraine.

The plant is now owned by the départements of Indre -et -Loire.

Description

The building has an irregular plan and is kept very simple from the outside. Its limestone walls are plastered and finished with a slated roof.

The castle has retained the character which it had at the time of the poet in the first half of the 19th century. A straight staircase leads to the rooms of the de Margonne family on the first floor. The dining room and the great room with the curtain wallpaper present themselves as intact living quarters of the time. Even the modest living room, study and bedroom upstairs Balzac was restored in 1970 and again looks like then. Even the desk of the poet, including writing utensils, and the bed are still available.

The remaining rooms of the upper floor is a museum established. The exhibition includes, for example, contemporary cartoons about Balzac and his fellow writers, as well as memories of the stay Balzac in Russia at the Countess of Hanska, whom he married shortly before his death. The exhibited manuscripts and proofs can recognize the great effort which Balzac underwent shortly before the printing of a work.

On the walls, a few stitches give an impression of the Paris of the " human comedy " that Balzac has immortalized in his novels. These included, for example, the Baltard pavilions, which had just been opened, and the Balzac admired. On the Seine went in this time of upheaval, the first steam ships. Furthermore, the theater, the dark streets and the first boulevards of Paris are shown. Not to mention the stagecoach, the time from Paris to Tours took two and a half days. In the 1840s, then left the railroad to shrink the travel time to six hours.