If you are thinking of a romantic trip, make sure to visit the Chateaud de Chambord, a place to fall in love just 90 minutes away from Paris, France. The largest and most beautiful castle in the center region of the Loire Valley, was built nonstop, despising the worldly things. This is one of the most famous French buildings in the planet, for the peculiar way of mixing medieval forms and traditions with the classic Italian structure.
The castle is a fairy-tale or wandering knights and enchanted princesses wonder. In fact, a place of the palace served as illustration for the Amadís de Gaula, a masterpiece of the medieval literature in Castilian, the most famous of the knight errantry books of 1543.
Chambord was one more palace within the astonishing series of constructions promoted by King Francis I, known as the Father and Restorer of Letters, King Knight and King Warrior. He was consecrated as monarch of France on January 25, 1515, in the cathedral of Reims and reigned until his death, in 1547.
The palace was preconceived in 1519, and drastically renovated in 1526 on his return from his humiliating prison in Madrid, after being captured in the Battle of Pavia by the imperial troops, and forced to sign the Treaty of Madrid in same year, by which he should renounce his rights over important areas of the Italian peninsula (Milanese, Genoa and Naples) and other neighboring territories of the Kingdom of France (Burgundy, Artois, Tournai and Flanders).
A curious fact about this arrest was that Francisco I’s sword, captured in this battle, remained in Spain for 283 years until March 31, 1808, when it was given to the French invading army in Madrid, to be sent to Napoleon Bonaparte.
This palace with so much history constitutes an important architectonic design for the region, since it was concluded in a relatively short period of time. It shows the style and the possibilities of structural design for the time; the most imaginative of French architecture.
The building reflects three fundamental architectural ideas: Ionic, Doric and Corinthian, with an immeasurable mastery. However, it must be acknowledged that the result was the fruit of several successive interventions for different purposes. Initially, Chambord was planned as a sporadic residence, one among several, where the King would go for fun and rest, surrounded by his friends and courtiers.
In case you didn’t know, the Chateaud de Chambord inspired the creators of “Beauty and the Beast”, who, after a tour, made the decision that it would be the mansion of the Beast in their next film, a popular love story that used the largest palace in the Loire Valley as a stage for the forbidden story between Francis I and his lover, Claude Rohan, the Countess of Thoury.
ALFA