Château de Gien

The castle of Gien is a French chateau located in the town of Gien, Loiret department and the central region. It belongs to the castles of the Loire and the tourist route Jacques Heart. Gien Castle was originally a medieval building built in the late fourteenth century, the site of an appointment hunting. The only remaining vestige of that era is the square tower on the south facade, the Tour Charlemagne.

The castle was remodeled in the late fifteenth century to Anne de Beaujeu, Countess of Gien and eldest daughter of Louis XI, the building housed Henry II and Catherine de Medici and Louis XIV and Anne of Austria during the Fronde. The castle belongs to the General Council of Loiret since 1823, it housed the successive sub-prefecture, the court and prison. It was declared a historic monument in 1840. Today the castle houses the International Museum of Hunting, created under the leadership of Henri de Linares in 1952.