A Walk Around The Great Chateaux of France

Château de Fontainebleau
This palace was a royal residence for eight centuries, housing heads of state from Louis VII to Napoleon III. The first castle on the site was built in the 12th century, but only the donjon, which houses the King’s apartments, remains from that original structure. Architect Gilles le Breton expanded the château under Charles VI, while subsequent expansions occurred under Henry II, Henry VI, and Louis XIII.

Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte
Architect Louis le Vau, landscape architect André le Nôtre, and decorator Charles le Brun collaborated on this baroque château for Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle Île, who served under Louis XIV. The trio would later go on to design the Château de Versailles for the king.

Château de Malmaison,
Purchased by Josephine in 1799 was, together with the Tuileries, the French government's headquarters from 1800 to 1802. When Napoleon moved to Saint-Cloud, Josephine stayed in Malmaison and commissioned a wide range of improvements to the house. She settled in permanently after her divorce in 1809 and died there on May 29, 1814.

Château de Cheverny
located at Cheverny, in the département of Loir-et-Cher in the Loire Valley in France. It is one of the châteaux of the Loire Valley. The house depicted in the drawing of Etienne Martellange in 1624 was built at the beginning of the 16th century by Jaques or his son Raoul. Raoul applied for permission of the king to fortify the new house in 1510.

Château de Chambord
In the 16th century, King Francis I commissioned architect Pierre Nepveu to build this 200,000-square-foot château—the largest in the Loire Valley—as his private hunting lodge. Designed in the French Renaissance style, the enormous palace, which boasts 335 fireplaces, was a symbol of his wealth and achievement. Its iconic double-helix grand staircase was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci.

Château de Chenonceau
Built over the Cher river, the Château de Chenonceau as it’s seen today was built in two phases by architects Philibert de l’Orme and Jean Bullant in the mid-16th century. Original construction was overseen by Katherine Briçonnet, the wife of Thomas Bohier, Chamberlain of Charles VIII, while Henry II’s mistress Diane de Poitiers oversaw the second phase. Over the centuries, the palace became the property of a number of notable women, including Catherine de’ Medici.

Château de Blois
Located in the city center of Blois at the Loir-et-Cher département in the Loire Valley, in France. The residence of several French kings, it is also the place where Joan of Arc went in 1429 to be blessed by the Archbishop of Reims before departing with her army to drive the English from Orléans.

Chateau de Amboise
Located in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was extensively rebuilt. King Charles VIII died at the château in 1498 after hitting his head on a door lintel. The château fell into decline from the second half of the 16th century and the majority of the interior buildings were later demolished, but some survived and have been restored, along with the outer defensive circuit of towers and walls. It has been recognised as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1840.

Château de Versailles
Versailles might be an obvious choice for this list, but there’s no denying that it’s one of the most stunning palaces not just in France, but in the entire world. Though Louis XIV brought the château to its highest levels of grandeur during the second half of the 17th century, it was Louis XIII who originally built a much more modest hunting lodge on the site, some 40 years earlier.

Chateau Grand Trianon
A French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of King Louis XIV of France as a retreat for himself and his maîtresse-en-titre of the time, the Marquise de Montespan, and as a place where he and invited guests could take light meals (collations) away from the strict étiquette of the royal court.

Chateau Petit Trianon
A Neoclassical style château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built between 1762 and 1768 during the reign of King Louis XV of France. The Petit Trianon was constructed in the park of a larger royal retreat known as the Grand Trianon.

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