| Bienvenue au Château de Chambord! Chambord is a royal Château (a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications) in France and is one of the most recognizable in the world because of its high usage of distinct French Renaissance architecture. Construction of Château de Chambord commenced in 1519 for King Francis I. Chambord was built to serve as a hunting lodge for Francis I. Though it is not certain, Domenico da Cortona and Leonardo da Vinci are credited for designing the château. The king spent little time n the castle, only a total of seven weeks. Chambord was built for short stays by the king specifically for short hunting trips, so the château had very few furnishings. After being abandoned in 1685, the castle sat empty for decades until 1725 when the king of Poland lived there. After he died a military regiment lived there, then in 1750 Chambord sat empty again. In 1792 the Revolutionary government sold all of its furnishings. In 1939 the art collections of the Louvre and Compiegne were stored here (including Mona Lisa) so no bombs or fire would damage them in Paris. An American B-24 Liberator bomber crashed onto the lawn on June 22, 1944. Today Chambord is a large tourist attraction with efforts being made to restore the interior. Merci de votre visite! |
http://www.chambord.org/en/