Château de Villandry

The construction of the Chateau de Villandry was completed around 1536. It was the last of the great castles built in the Loire Valley during the Renaissance. The Chateau de Villandry was built by Jean le Breton, one of François I’s Finance Ministers. His most impressive achievement in this field was the construction of the Chateau de Chambord, which Le Breton supervised under the aegis of François I.

While directing this project, he built for himself nearby a small replica of the Castle of Villandry called Villesavin The castle remained in the le Breton family until 1754 and then became the property of the Marquis de Castellane, ambassador under Louis XV, who came from a very famous noble family from Provence. He built the Classical style outbuildings that you can see on both sides of the front courtyard. He redesigned the interior of the castle to meet the standards of comfort of the 18th century which were much closer to today’s ones than Renaissance ones. The castle and its splendid gardens host several interesting summer events, such as the European Heritage Days.