Valencay Castle (Chateau de Valencay)

A Renaissance architectural monument with perfectly preserved interiors, which were created by its most famous owner - politician Talleyrand.






From the side, the castle looks a little strange and disproportionate.


This is due to the fact that they began to build it on the model of Chambord in 1540, but the construction dragged on for 200 years.


A large park is laid out around the castle, the plan of which was created at the time of Talleyrand, but the park itself was laid out already in the 20th century. Theoretically, there you can find peacocks, deer and llamas.






We visited the castle inside. Luxurious Empire-style interiors were created by Talleyrand. He purchased the castle in 1803 by order of Napoleon, who needed a luxurious palace to meet the foreign ambassadors.






Most of the rooms of belonged to the Talleyrand family: himself (in the previous photo), the wife of Princess Benevento, niece of Dorothea, and Prince of Asturias, the future King of Spain Fernando VII (in the next photo).
















The heirs of Talleyrand owned the castle until 1952, and during the Second World War treasures of the Louvre were stored here, in particular Venus of Milos. Then the castle was placed at the disposal of the Association of Historic Castles of France. Currently open to tourists.


https://www.chateau-valencay.fr/en/preparer/horaires-tarifs/ - opening times and prices.

Getting there: parking near the tourist information office N 47 09.636 E 1 33.738. There is a train station Valençay (https://www.sncf.com/en).