Château du Lude
The Castle Le Lude (French Château du Lude ) is located on the western shore of the river Loir in the French town of Le Lude in Sarthe. It is characterized by the diversity of architectural styles visible to him, ranging from Gothic to Neoclassicism. The plant is one of the castles of the Loire.
First parts of the building are available since February 1928 under a preservation order, the remaining buildings were added in October 1992 in the list of monuments.
History
First fortification
The origins of the castle are in an attachment called Fort de la Motte. The structure was a structure made of wood, on the shores of the river Loir erected by the Counts of Anjou in the 10th century to defend the Anjou against the incursions of the Normans. The present castle was built on the foundations of a fortress from the 13th century. Its six towers flanking a square enclosure, which was surrounded by a deep moat and the vorgebaut an attachment. During the Hundred Years War, the castle was repeatedly besieged by the English in 1425 and eventually taken by Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. The " Bluebeard " Gilles de Rais regained it in 1427 and then came to the troops of Joan of Arc, which lay in front Orleans.
Reconstruction as a castle
1457 acquired Jean de Daillon, chamberlain of King Louis XI. , The battered castle. He and his son Jacques to 1530 dedicated to the construction of a three- winged building around a courtyard, the south facade shows the style of the early Renaissance and is flanked by four round towers. Here, the façade of the wing of Francis I at Blois Chateau and the towers of Chambord Castle find. High windows and superimposed pillars cause a vertical structure, and horizontal gable bands emphasize the individual floors. Stone medallions adorn the facade and give it a special character. A novelty was the voltage applied between the towers of the castle moat terrace. Architect responsible for the redesign was carried out from 1520 Jean Gendrot, architect René of Anjou.
On the son of Jean, Count of Le Lude, who primarily sought the interior of the castle, was succeeded by his son François. He got IV and Louis XIII, whom he in the service of Henry -. Could receive on his property - in addition to other high -ranking figures such as the Marquise de Sévigné. The so-called Henry IV bedrooms with wall cladding cordovan recalls the visit of the French king. François ' successor, Timoléon, completed lock and gardens. From his time the Second Renaissance comes called courtyard. In recognition of Henry, living at his court last descendant of the family, brought Louis XIV Le Lude to the Duchy of peerage (French duché - pairie ).
Further expansion
1751 Le Lude was the property of Joseph du Velaer, merchant of East India Company. His niece, the Marchioness de la Vieuville, let the architect Jean Benoît Vincent Barré, a student Ange-Jacques Gabriel, who was also responsible for the plans of the castle Montgeoffroy running 1787 new construction. He will be the entrance wing and the rear, tripartite pavilion wing of Louis XVI. attributed; the gently sloping central pavilion has a wappengverzierten triangular pediment, the floors are decorated with niches and medallions.
The Marquise succeeded in the times of the French Revolution, to protect the property against looting by voluntarily ceded a portion of the lock device to the revolutionary government of Angers. She left the facility through its subsidiary the Talhouët family, who perform during the 19th century extensive work on the restoration of the building. The current owner, Comtesse de Nicolay, is descended from this family.
Special interior
A small cabinet - often incorrectly referred to as oratory - besides having painted ceiling with pointed arches very detailed wall paintings from the period 1559-1585 and heard alongside those of castles Pribac and Beauregard of the few surviving examples of a Studiolo in the Italian style.
The Grand Salon is equipped with a white paneling in the Louis XVI style gilt and furniture from the 18th century.