Chinon
Attractions
Forteresse Royale de Chinon
Chinon
T: + 33 2 47 93 13 45
forteressechinon@cg37.fr
‘The château
of Chinon dominates the town, and is a reassuring sight for English eyes;
with its motte and bailey it bears a far closer resemblance to the
medieval castles of Britain than to the other châteaux of the Loire’.
- Robin & Judith Yapp – ‘Vineyards and Vignerons’ - 1979
The château-fort of Chinon is one of the great
architectural ensembles of the Loire Valley; a prototype by which all
others could and should be judged. Its original purpose was to defend its
occupants from attack from rival warrior clans; a role that it performed
admirably over a period of ten centuries. Chinon has been of strategic
importance since Gallo-Roman times, with the fortress built on a rocky
spur (the original site of a Gallo-Roman oppidium) some three hundred
metres above the town itself; the south face protected from attack by a
steep cliff, whilst a series of gullies check the access from the north
and west side.
The château de Mileu is built on the site of the original Roman castrum
and accessed via a bridge over the dry moat; its entrance through a
central gate set within the walls of its 36 metre high clock tower. The Tour
de l’Horlage has served as the entrance since the 12th
Century and was added to and secured further in the early 13th
Century. The clock itself was commissioned in 1399 and credited to Henri
Cressant. Its bell, the Marie Javelle, was struck the same year and has
this old Chinonnais rhyme dedicated to it:
Marie Javelle
Je m’appelle
Celui qui m’a mis
M’a bien mis;
Celui qui m’ôtera
s’en repentira.
‘Mary-Javelle
Is my name.
Whoever set me
Set me well
Who may remove me
The day will rue’
Once
through the gate, the ruins of the Grand
Logis appear. Located on the south side of the fortress with
commanding views over the Vienne valley, these royal apartments were once
home to both Charles VII and his heir, Louis XI. It was here, in the great
hall, that the dauphin famously
received Joan of Arc on the 3rd March 1429. All that remains of
the hall today are the foundations and, at its western gable, the
mantel-piece and hearth of some huge fireplace. Elsewhere, however,
restoration work over the past decade has secured the buildings which were
in complete ruin, with the apartments now hosting a state-of- the-art
multimedia presentation on the distinguished history of the fortress.
Opposite
the entrance to the apartments, on land that is now planted to lawn and
trees, once stood the priory of Saint-Mélaine; the last resting place of
Henry II who died here in 1189. Prior to its demolition, it was adapted
into a hall for playing jeu de paume,
or ‘real tennis’.
Around
the perimeter of the Château de Mileu stands a series of towers. The Tour
de Trésor once formed part of the royal apartments and served as the
counting house. The Tour des Chiens was erected as a watchtower by Philippe Auguste and
has three vaulted levels. It takes its name from its location next to the
nearby kennels that housed the royal hounds in the 15th
Century. The Tour d’Argenton
stands at the extreme north of the fortress and is a later addition; built
around 1477, its purpose was reinforce this corner and able to withstand
the newly invented gunpowder. It takes its name from the trusted
biographer of Louis XI, Philippe Commynes, Lord of Argenton. Evidenced by
the graffiti covered walls, the tower was once used as a prison during the
17th Century.
FORT
DU COUDRAY
This was the last of the three citadels to be added and is believed to
have taken its name from a grove of hazelnut trees, or coudres that grew within its walls. It was added, in the early 13th
Century, by Philippe Auguste who was also responsible for the excavation
of the dry moat that divides it from the Château de Mileu. Within its
centre stood the chapel of Saint-Martin once stood, although this has long
since vanished. There commanding views from here across the Vienne to the
north and west. It too contains several well preserved towers, some of
which have multi-storied vaulted rooms.
La
Tour du Moulin
The
Tour du Moulin was built in the
late 12th Century by King John (Lackland). It was of strategic
importance since it is located at the extreme north-western edge of the
fortress and was used primarily as a look-out. It is the tallest yet most
slender of all the towers along the battlements. As the name suggests, it
was once surmounted by a windmill. The Tour
de Boissy was erected in the 13th Century during the time
of Saint-Louis (Louis IX), but takes its name from a Governor of Chinon in
the 16th Century. Noted for its low-vaulted ceiling, it once
served as a chapel. The Tour de
Coudray - after which the citadel is named - is the old cylindrical
keep and stands at the entrance and built in a similar style to examples
in Rouen and Paris. The tower stands 25 metres high and has several
stories. It has been utilized over the ages as a prison and later as an
impressive dovecote. Whilst technically not a prisoner (although stilled
viewed with a great deal of suspicion by her hosts), Joan of Arc was
accommodated on the first floor of the Coudray tower, electing to pray in
the adjacent chapel, before departing for Orléans.
The
most famous residents of the Tour de
Coudray, however, were a chapter of the Templars who were held here in
1307 before being transferred to Paris. Led by Jacques de Molay, the Grand
Master of the Templars, 140 members of the Order were imprisoned by
Philippe VI, otherwise known as Phillip the Fair. Concerned about the
power and influence the Templars enjoyed (the Order was capable of
creating its own states and countries, paid no taxes and obeyed only their
own laws), Philippe obtained a Bull from Pope Clement V giving him
permission to bring the Templars to trial; having every single member
arrested on the same day.
Ordered
by the Pope to leave their campaign in Cyprus (along with other Templar
dignitaries and their collective treasures), Molay was told to head for
Paris. Seized on the 13th October 1307 and transported to the
security of the Coudray tower, Molay and his knights were held here to
await trial. The men were imprisoned for three years, the walls of the
tower are testament to their incarceration; engraved with the graffiti
that was etched by these soldier-monks as they waited news of their fate.
On the 12th May 1310, 54 of the Order were burned at the stake
on one of the islets of the Seine in Paris. Jacques Molay was spared until
the 19th March 1314 when he was transported to Paris to receive
his judgment; which was ultimately the same fate as the rest. Whatever
fortunes that might have been extracted from the Templars were
short-lived, since public opinion forced Philippe to donate any gains to
other monastic orders and he died the same year as Molar went to the pyre.
The
recent restoration work at the fortress was extended to the Coudray tower,
with the cell of the Templars and the remains of their graffiti remain
very much intact.
FORT
SAINT-GEORGES
The smallest of the three forts Saint-Georges was constructed by Heny II
in 1160, his rectangular plan designed to protect the eastern approach. A
chapel, palace, and an administration centre (for when Henry was in
residence) were all constructed here, although this particular fort served
no military purpose. It was, however, strengthened by Henrys son, John
‘Lackland’ against the warring Philippe Auguste.
The
fort was flattened, probably in the 17th Century, during the
pillaging of its then proprietor, Cardinal Richelieu, who had the stone
walls dismantled and transported south to aid the construction of his own
eponymously named town.
It is on this site, over to the remains of the
chapel that a small vineyard once stood. Evidence of this exists in a
series of photographs taken in the first half of the 20th
Century and was also documented by CB Black in his 1905 travelogue Touraine
and Brittany.
After a decade of work, the fortress is once again open for business.
It’s a worthy detour and one should allow a couple of hours at least, if
not half a day to experience it. Access from the town has been simplified
with the installation of an exterior lift which serves both the residents
of Chinon’s haute ville as
well as its thousands of visitors.
La
Chapelle Ste-Radegonde
|
La Chapelle Ste-Radegonde The
history of the chapel goes back to the 6th Century and a
hermit by the name of John the Recluse. He was a refugee from the
Saxon raids in Britain and he settled in the grotto. Having acquired
a reputation for great wisdom, Queen Radegonde (a German princess
and the wife of King Clotair I) came to consult with the recluse on
spiritual advice following the collapse of their marriage and her
decision to leave the court in order to found the convent of
Saint-Croix in Poitiers. Radegonde subsequently built the chapel
here in John’s memory and the cave was later enlarged to
accommodate the hermit’s remains. A
Romanesque portal leads into the chapel which is partly supported by
a number of columns. Deep inside the cave, a Merovingian holy well
is accessed by a steep flight of stairs. Other attractions are some
8th and 9th Century sarcophagi and sculptures
on the walls, but the chapel’s greatest asset is the 12th
c frescoes believed to depict the Royal Hunt with Henry II and his
wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, their daughter, Jeanne, and two sons,
Richard (the Lionheart) and John (Lackland). The symbolic handing of
a falcon to Richard is said to signify his eventual succession to
the throne. Other commentators believe that the frescoes depict not
Henry but John and his queen, Isabel d’Angoulême, and accompanied
by his mother, Eleanor. Le
Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Chinon
Les Caves Painctes – The Painted Caves |
‘Je suis où est Chinon et la cave paincte aussi, j’y ai bu maints
verres de vin bon et frais…’ -
Pantegruel
knew of a painted cellar, ‘having
myself drunk there many a glass of cool wine’
–
François Rabelais
The caves are open daily (except Monday) during July and August
with four guided tours per day. There is a modest entrance fee.
Musée
Animé du Vin et de la Tonnellerie
Mme. Martine Gouron
12 Rue Voltaire
Chinon
T: + 33 2 47 93 25 63
F: + 33 2 47 93 01 34
How
to spend a wet afternoon in Chinon; this somewhat disheveled looking
museum offers a somewhat clichéd insight to the work of the vigneron
and barrel maker.
12 Quai Pasteur
T: + 33 2 47 93 21 34
Quai Pasteur
Chinon
T/F: + 33 2 47 93 20 75
This
2,500 square metre ancient quarry on the quay alongside the Vienne is used
by three Chinon growers: Domaine de la Fontaine and Cousins Radolphe
Raiffault and Julien Raffault, for the barrel aging and storage of their
respective cuvées. Its original purpose was for the extraction of tufa
for the numerous chateaux and other significant stone buildings in the
region. Visitors are invited to take a torch and conduct a self-guided
tour of the impressive galleries, which contain around 700 casks and
thousands of bottles, before returning to taste the various producers
wines.
La
Forêt Domaniale de Chinon
To
the north of the town there is a great expanse of forest. Noted as the
hunting grounds for a succession of French kings (Louis XI had two lodges
here; one at Little Bonaventure and the other at Les Forges) as well as
being the location for the Benedictine monetary of Turpenay whose
land-holding was extensive. Today there are a total of 5,300 hectares
mixed woodland stretching continuously between the towns of Chinon and
Azay-le-Rideau and offers a weekend retreat for the many Chinonnais
who come here in the autumn months to hunt for mushrooms and wild
boar.
La
Maison de la Devinière - Musée Rabelais
Seuilly
T: + 33 2 47 95 91 18
F: + 33 2 47 95 89 37
museerabelais@cg37.fr
www.musee-rabelais.fr
Originally known as Les Cravandières, La Devinière is a small
country manor that was built by Antoine Rabelais at the end of the 15th
Century and is the disputed birthplace of his son, the celebrated
humanist, François. In reality, it’s a fairly simple yet attractive
farmhouse which consists of two stories; the first floor being accessed by
an external stone staircase. Alongside is a multi-cavern cellar containing
three separate presses (one attributed to being an oil press, the other
two for wine) and there is a well preserved 17th Century
dovecote comprising of 288 pigeon-holes. The house, which contains a small
museum, is open for visits every day of the year (except for Christmas and
New Year).
Next
to the property is a small vineyard, made up of four separate parcels and
planted to both Cabernet Franc and Chenin. It takes the simple appellation
of Touraine. The vines here are tended by Domaine de Millarges, the local
Lycée Agricole, with its students responsible for making the wine which
is subsequently offered for sale at both La Devinière and in the shop at
the Fortresse de Chinon.
L'Abbaye
de Seuilly
T:
+ 33 2 47 95 83 28
This former Benedictine priory was raised to the rank of an abbey in 1095.
Partly destroyed between the 15th and 18th Century,
it was made famous by Rabelais who received his early education here and
subsequently immortalized it in Gargantua.
Today it houses a Maison de Pays
and promotes local crafts and produce. It is open for visits from April to
the end of the season.
Château
de Coudray-Monpensier
This
ostentatious château stands incongruously in open rolling landscape close
to the village of Lerné. It too was made famous by Rabelais with
Gargantua granting the château to one of his officers following the
battle of Picrochole. The property is clearly visible on the horizon from
the family home at La Devinière.
Château de Rivau
Le Coudray
Lémeré
T: + 33 2 47 95 77 47
www.chateaudurivau.com
Sitting
amid pastures of arable land, this 13th Century château has
something of a feudal exterior and a renaissance core. Fortified in the 15th
Century by Pierre de Beauveau, Chamberlain to Charles VII, Joan of Arc is
said to have passed through its portal en-route to Orléans. It is also
mentioned within the works of Rabelais after Gargantua’s gave Le Riveau
to Tolmère, captain of his foot-soldiers, after the victories of the
Picrocholean War. Defended by a dry moat and accessed via a drawbridge,
the château today is better known for its gardens which have been
renovated to follow the original 15th Century design and
include a rose garden, wild flower garden and a secret garden. The
building has also received a facelift and is filled with Gothic and
Renaissance furniture, although the primary reason to visit remain the
gardens.
Crissay-sur-Manse
Officially,
one of France’s Most Beautiful Villages. This community at the edge of
the Chinon appellation is made up of a selection of 15th and 16th
Century house. Many of these minor bourgeois houses are grouped around a
communal well and were built by those in service to the Turpin-de-Crissé
dynasty who were also responsible for funding the mid-16th
Century church. For several generations, the Turpins had held the position
of Royal Chamberlain at the court of Anjou. Overlooking the farmland of
the Manse valley, one can imagine the strategic importance of this once
fortified stronghold. Building work on its château started in the 11th
Century, although even after 500 years of ongoing construction it was
never truly completed. One family member, Jacques Turpin, who accompanied
François I on his Italian campaign returned with ambitions to redevelop
the edifice into an Italian Renaissance style residence. The dwelling was
neither finished nor inhabited and what remains today forms just part of
the remains of the earlier fortress.
This is very much a village of second homes; the currently population of around 100 souls being about one-fifth of what it was in the 17th Century and as such has a sense of abandoned charm. For wine lovers, there is a single remaining vigneron in the village and whose vines can be found within a small clos at the rear of the château. The vineyards are classified as humble Touraine.
Les Roches
Tranchelion
This
forgotten hamlet sits below a cliff face between the villages of Avon-les-Roches
and Crissay-sur-Manse. Sitting above - on the edge of the precipice - are
the roofless remains of a 16th Century collegiate college
church built by the des Tousche family in 1522. Although outside of the
Chinon appellation, documents indicate that the vineyards once stretched
as far as the hamlet, but where presumably lost after the period of
phylloxera. Today, just a couple of smallholdings remain at the foot of
the church.
Le Prieuré
Saint-Léonard à L’Île-Bouchard
Just
on the edge of the town, this old priory was constructed in 1067 and acted
as the parish church until the 13th Century, but has sadly been
abandoned and decades of decline have left it in ruins (albeit attractive
ones). Within the remains of the chapel are numerous sculptures depicting
the life of Christ from the nativity up to his the time of the
crucifixion. It’s worth seeking out and spending a few quiet moments
here.
L’Eglise de
Saint-Nicolas
Tavant
T: + 33 2 47 58 58 01
communedetavant@wanadoo.fr
www.communedetavant.fr
For
such a modest place of worship in an equally ordinary village, the
Romanesque church of Tavant is said to be one of the most interesting in
France, both for its architecture and for the frescoes contained within.
Some, which depict the childhood of Christ, date back to the 10th
and 12th Centuries and can be viewed as 27 separate scenes in
the crypt. The most famous is a painting of King David playing a harp. The
images are considered to be of significant importance within the French
art world due to their sense of realism and it has been written that these
paintings have ‘no equals within the Romanesque wall paintings of
Europe’. Opening times are sporadic and the church is kept locked
otherwise, so it is best to contact the maire to ascertain when access can
be gained. Tours of the crypt are guided and there is a modest charge.
Sanctuaire
Carolingien de Cravant
P: + 33 6 07 04 43 34
vieuxcravant@wanadoo.fr
www.tourism-touraine.com/eglisecravant
Away
from the main road that runs between Chinon and Panzoult is the older part
of Cravant, known as Le Vieux Bourg.
It is here, at the centre of the hamlet that one discovers this pretty
little church which has been receiving worshipers since it was first
consecrated in the 10th Century. Dedicated to Saint-Léger, the
nave dates back to the early 900s and is a rare example of the Carolingian
style, being built of small stones. The Romanesque apse is believed to be
even older; from the time of Charlemagne (742-814). In the chapel are
remains of 15th Century frescoes which are believed to depict
its benefactor, Georges de La Trémoille (the Minister to Charles VII) and
his family, who are seen making an offering to the Virgin and Child.
Beside the church are the remains of the Abbey de Grandmont, founded by
Henri II for a chapter of the Bonshommes Order – known as the Monks of
the Crab-apple Tree.
Maison des
Vins et du Tourisme
14 Rue du 8 mai 1945
Beaumont en Véron
T: + 33 2 47 58 86 17
F: + 33 2 47 58 86 62
mdv@cc-veron.fr
www.lamaisondesvinsduveron.com
This information centre in the middle of Beaumont doubles up as a
tasting centre and point of purchase for 26 wine producers in the Véron
peninsular. It’s worth dropping in for a snap-shot of the wines on offer
that day. Open all year between Tuesday and Saturday from mid-October to
April between 10h00-12h30 and 14h30-18h30.
Eco
musée de Véron
T: + 33 2 47 58 09 05
ecomusee@cc-veron.fr
www.cc-veron.fr/ecomusee
This
small museum in Savigny-en-Véron has exhibitions on local winemaking
history and the ecology of the Loire and Vienne flood plains. Open daily
(except Tuesday) between April and November. There is a nominal entrance
fee.
T: + 33 2 47 98 77 77
Cip-chinon@edf.fr
1 Place d’Hofheim
Chinon
T: + 33 2 47 93 17 85
F: + 33 2 47 93 93 05
info@chinon-valdeloire.com
www.chinon-valdeloire.com
Open
1st October to 30th April – Monday to Saturday
10h00 to 12h30 and 14h30 to 18h00. Open 1st May to 30th September
everyday between 10h00 and 17h00.