Chambord Castle

Chambord is one of the most recognizable castles in France , an architectural masterpiece of the Renaissance . The length of the facade is 156 m, the width is 117 m, the castle has 426 rooms, 77 stairs, 282 fireplaces and 800 sculpturally decorated capitals .

The name of the architect is unknown, but research proves the participation in the project of Leonardo da Vinci , who was then an architect at the court of King Francis I, but who died a few months before the start of construction, as well as the participation of Domenico da Corton, nicknamed Boccador .

The plan of the castle is drawn around the central object, called the “ dungeon ”, because, although it was never intended to repel attacks, it was modeled on the fortified castles of the Middle Ages . Inside the dungeon there are 5 residential floors . Each floor has 4 square and 4 round rooms; four corridors between rooms, as if from four corners of the world, lead to a double staircase in the center. King Francis I subsequently expanded the castle and lodged in more spacious rooms of the east wing. A chapel was built in the west wing, completed by Jean le Humble . A similar arrangement of the chapel and the royal chambers was unusual for that time: placing himself in the direction of Jerusalem , the king wanted to show himself the ruler of spiritual authority in his kingdom.

It was rumored that Francis I and his friend Jean le Gumble even wanted to change the course of the Loire so that it flowed right in front of the castle, but they abandoned such an idea.

The double, two-way spiral staircase in the very center of the castle more than conveys the creative style of Leonardo da Vinci. Two-way - from two stairs with a spiral , turning in the same direction, but never intersecting, so that those descending could avoid meeting those who climbed towards them, and vice versa. On this monumental staircase with carved ornaments, you can climb the large terrace, also conceived by Leonardo, admire the chimneys and capitals of the roof and go around the perimeter around the donjon. A lighthouse tower rises above the stairs, which is also visible inside the building from the lower floors. It rises above all the chimneys, reaching a height of 32 m; at the very top is not a familiar cross , but a royal lily.

The second floor is also notable for its arches, decorated with the emblem of the king (monogram F , crowned with a crown, and a salamander ), accompanied by a cord in knots - the emblem of his mother, Louise of Savoy . Some monograms of the stairs at the terrace level are made upside down - “ so that God can see royal power from heaven ”!

Construction began in 1519 and became one of the largest construction projects of the Renaissance. They say that up to 1700-1800 workers were employed at the construction site. It took about 220,000 tons of stone. Life at the construction site was not easy, especially since the castle was built on a swampy place, many workers died from swamp fever. Carpenters driven oak foundation piles to a depth of 12 meters. During preventive excavations in 2007, it was discovered that the southwestern tower rests on a rock of calcareous origin, that traces of a round building made of sandstone - possibly the remains of a tower of a medieval castle that existed before the construction of this castle were preserved ^[1] .

On carts from the port of Saint-Dieu ( French Saint-Dyé ) were brought construction materials and especially stone blocks made of white sandstone - white stone, loose and brittle. The masons, unlike other workers, did not have a fixed salary, they were paid piecework, as it should be for the work of the pieceworker. Therefore, on each processed stone, they carved their own special inconspicuous sign. Such a signature allowed the treasurer to evaluate and pay for the work; signs are still visible on some stone blocks that have not yet suffered from graffiti after the castle was opened to the public.

In 1392, the family of the Dukes of Orleans bought from the Earl of Blois a large wooded estate Chambord. When the Duke of Orleans became king of France under the name of Louis XII in 1498 , Chambord accordingly became royal property.

In 1516, Francis I returned from Italy along with Leonardo da Vinci and the desire to implement something great in the style of Italian Renaissance architecture of the time. In 1519, he chooses Chambord for the construction of a hunting castle on the site of the former castle. Since 1526 , 1800 workers have been involved in the construction of a new castle, completed after numerous extensions in 1547, after the death of the king. In the end, Francis I spends quite a bit of time in Chambord - just a few times to hunt and demonstrate his wealth and greatness to the rival Spaniard Charles V.

Following the death of Francis I, subsequent French kings are not particularly interested in the abandoned castle. In 1639, Louis XIII gives it to his brother Gaston of Orleans .

In 1684, Louis XIV ordered new interior restructuring of the castle, a new roof for the chapel, and joining the four living quarters of the north entrance hall of the second floor in a suite of rooms for the king, such as royal apartments in the Palace of Versailles . On October 14, 1670, Moliere, with a theater troupe from Paris, invited by Louis XIV, gives the castle the very first performance of the play “ The Tradesman in the Nobility ”.

From 1725 to 1733 the castle was occupied by Stanislav Leszczynski - the ousted Polish king and father-in-law of Louis XV . From 1745 to 1750, he served as a barracks for the Moritz regiment.

Tourists are told that in the middle of the XVIII century, with the permission of Louis XV , the castle housed the chemical laboratory of Count Saint-Germain .

In 1792, the revolutionary government sold furniture. Napoleon Bonaparte gives the castle to Marshal Berthier . In 1821, the estate will be redeemed from his widow through a national subscription and transferred to the young Henri d'Artois , Duke of Bordeaux, born the year before. After the revolution of 1830, already in exile, the duke will take on himself the title of Count of Chambord. Even before that, Charles X did not live long in the castle, slightly repairing it. During the Franco-Prussian war, the castle serves as a field hospital. The Earl of Chambord in 1871 will appeal to the French from Chambord with a manifesto calling for the restoration of the monarchy and the white flag. Since 1883, the castle belongs to the Dukes of Parma: the Duke Robert of Parma inherits the castle from the Count of Chambord, his maternal uncle.

Purchased in 1930 from Elya Bourbon-Parma for 11 million francs in gold, Chambord becomes the property of the French state and is managed through the "Association of Friends of Chambord". In 1945, due to a fire, the roof of the southeast dungeon was partially destroyed. In 1947, a lot of work began to turn the castle into a major tourist attraction, offering since 1952 also light-sound evening performances.

Since 1981, it has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List under number 933. Since 2005, the castle has the status of a state public and commercial enterprise. In 2007, 17,300 scouts celebrated the centenary of the creation of the scout organization by Lord Baden Powell for three days in the castle park. On the second floor of the castle is now a branch of the Museum of Hunting and Nature .

Belted by the longest wall in France with a length of 32 km (the length of the Parisian peripheral ring road), an area of ​​5,441 hectares, of which 1,000 hectares are open to the public, is the largest enclosed forest-type park in Europe. The symbols of the park are deer and wild boar; more than 100 species of birds live here.

• Laura's castle
• Castles of France
• Chambord Treaty

• Chambord, village // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Official site
• Detailed drawings of the castle and engravings