Amboise castle (Loire Valley)

Our author’s Guide to France and the Loire Valley is intended for tourists of various categories, but we try to provide useful information primarily for history buffs, collectors and re-enactors of different eras. Of course, we post descriptions of interesting items for art lovers, from oil paintings to artistic medieval furniture. You can read detailed information about the history of the Royal Castle of Amboise (Château d’Amboise) on Wikipedia, on the official website of the castle, hear from an audio guide or order a personal guide – an art historian. For this reason, we post below only our brief reviews of the castle, old photographs from our own collection and a modern photo gallery with views of the castle.

What we would like to especially note about the royal castle of Amboise?

The castle of Amboise is, first of all, a large engineering fortification structure of the medieval period and even during the Second World War. This high observation platform was noticed by the Celts, and the Roman legions turned it into an ancient fortress. Not only the Cape of Amboise, but also the entire Loire Valley is a natural fortified area, creating a large defensive line. During medieval wars, when Paris was threatened to be captured or bypassed, the defense line along the Loire River was always considered a reserve residence for the Kings of France. In the absence of hostilities, the Loire Valley was an excellent place for royal recreation and receiving guests, including wine drinking, fishing and hunting. This is how the famous royal castles and fortress towns on the Loire appeared. Amboise is considered the most famous and very interesting for tourists from all over the world. The history of the Amboise castle is inextricably linked with the history of France and its kings and leaders.
When the French crown took over Amboise in the 15th century, the castle was heavily rebuilt and became a favorite royal residence from Louis XI to Francis I. At first, King Charles VIII began to rebuild the castle in the French Gothic style, but after the Italian War of 1494-1495, he decided to change the concept. Charles VIII hired architects from Italy and decided to build the first palace in France in the Italian style. The castle flourished and became an important architectural monument of the Renaissance. But the tragic death of Charles VIII in 1498 disrupted all plans and the castle of Amboise fell into disrepair. King Francis I, who grew up in the castle of Amboise, invited the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci to work as an honorary guest in 1515. The royal castle of Amboise reaches the height of its glory. The names of Henry II and his wife Catherine de Medici, the little Queen of Scotland Mary Stuart, Louis I de Bourbon and the Prince de Condé, who participated in the conspiracy, are associated with the Château d’Amboise. The Amboise conspiracy and peace became a separate chapter in the history of France. And then there was the revolution with its traditional destruction of palaces, the restoration, the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, King Louis Philippe and the captive emir Abdu al-Qadir.
It should also be noted that during the Second World War, there were major battles in the Loire Valley area, and a German anti-aircraft battery was located on the terraces of the Château d’Amboise.
We offer you a short virtual tour using modern and old photographs of the Château d’Amboise from our own collection, as well as reviews after the visit.

Royal Castle of Amboise Guide, the History and Virtual tour

Visiting Chateau Amboise, Leonardo da Vinci’s estate and the wine cellars of the Loire Valley is interesting and enjoyable at any time of the year and on any program. Below we have posted a photo gallery and description of the main attractions of the Royal Castle of Amboise along the classic route of visiting it.

There are different ways to approach the Château d’Amboise, depending on your general itinerary, but the classic route from Paris is across the old bridge shown in the first photo. The bridge offers a wonderful view of this medieval fortress with steep walls, with the royal palace visible on top. An old photo from our own collection shows the Château d’Amboise a hundred years ago from this road from Blois and Paris. From the car or bus stop, you walk across Place Michel Debré, where there are cafes, restaurants, shops and wine cellars, which are best visited after visiting the castle. From the Loire embankment to the entrance to the castle, there is a very short royal street named after François 1st at the base of the fortress. Near the walls, you feel their height and stunning grandeur. It is difficult to convey in a photograph, as it must be seen in real life. Then you climb to the entrance to the castle along a special road for horsemen and look at the square from a small height. Depending on the month and time of year, the ticket office may have a small queue. If you visit the Chateau without a private guide, you can take an audio guide in different languages. After the ticket office and control, you walk along the old cobblestone road to the terraces of the castle. The guide or audio guide begins his story about the history of the area and the first fortifications at this height. The Celts, the Roman Legions and even Julius Caesar himself admired this ancient fortress. In the Middle Ages, there were local wars for Amboise between the Duke of Anjou and the Count of Blois. In different centuries, houses, galleries, palaces and chapels were built and destroyed on the terraces. But the foundation of the fortress, the walls and towers are well preserved, so the tour begins with them. The Erto Tower is an interesting and beautiful engineering structure that lovers of military history can study for a very long time. But we go further along the walls and look at the panorama of the surrounding area. Somewhere nearby is the estate where the great master Leonardo da Vinci lived, and right below us is the Place Michel Debre, shops and restaurants. On the other side of the wall you can see the Loire and the Chapel of Saint Hubert with its original decorations. The guide tells interesting details about the construction of this chapel, its gutters, portals and sculptures. The chapel itself was built in 1496 as part of a complex connected by a gallery to the Gothic palace of Charles VIII.
The chapel is made of white stone in the Gothic style and has sculptural decorations of Saints Hubert, Christopher and Anselma, deer antlers, as well as a scene of King Charles VIII and his wife Anne of Brittany praying.
The room was planned as the queen’s chambers, so inside there are two fireplaces, stained glass windows, scenes of hunting life with animals, and outside there is an observation deck overlooking the Loire. Now tourists also use this platform to explore the valley and the city. But the main attraction of the Chapel of Saint-Hubert is, of course, the tomb of the Great Master Leonardo da Vinci. In 1515, Leonardo da Vinci was invited by King Francis I to live and work in the Clos Lucé estate, adjacent to Amboise Château.
In 1517, Leonardo da Vinci designed a new royal castle, participated in luxurious parties and developed engineering designs for the future, including the first tank. All his fantastic projects can now be seen in a small museum in the House in Clos Lucé.
In Amboise, despite the paralysis of his right arm, Leonardo da Vinci makes decorations, scale models and paintings of Italian battles. He completes his masterpieces “Mona Lisa” (“La Joconde”), “Saint-Jean-Baptiste”, “La Vierge, l’Enfant Jésus et Sainte-Anne”, which are now exhibited in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
In 1519, the Grand Master died and was buried in the Chateau d’Amboise in the Church of Saint-Florentin. Later, in 1811, the Collegiate Church of Saint-Florentin was destroyed and the body of the maestro was lost, possibly forever. But during archaeological excavations in 1863, the remains of the body and fragments of the tomb with French and Italian medals were found, which fully confirmed that they belonged to the Grand Master. In 1874, all the bones were buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert, where they are still available for visiting by tourists and fans from all over the world. As we wrote above, the entire complex of buildings on the terraces was rebuilt many times. An accident occurred in the gallery leading from the Chapel of Saint-Hubert to the Gothic palace. In 1498, Charles VIII was in a hurry to watch a game of tennis, hit his head on the partition of the door and died. Later, this “bad” gallery was demolished, like some of the surrounding buildings. Now an empty road leads from the Chapel to the palace.

Amboise Chateau Palace and its wings from different eras

We begin our tour of the Royal Palace with the Charles VIII wing, built in the French Gothic style and having several floors and halls. Immediately after the entrance there is a scale model of the Royal Castle of Amboise and a plan of the palace during the period of Charles VIII, according to which the audio guide tells the architecture of the entire complex for different periods. Nearby is a real old loom and its scale model. This room was intended for guards, so the armor and weapons of the knights are presented here. The armor of the knights of the 16th century was made for the museum in the 19th century exactly according to the original samples. The largest collection of original knightly armor and weapons is kept in the Army Museum in the House of Invalids in Paris, which we also recommend visiting. Nearby is the room of musicians playing tambourines (a type of drum) and entertaining the king’s guests.
The room received its name “Tambourines” later, in honor of the stay of King Louis XIV in Amboise (1661). Here you can see and even touch the real Cathedra of Cardinal Georges d’Amboise, who in 1491 negotiated the marriage of Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany.

The guardroom also houses an observation post from which tourists can look out over the Chateau, the Loire and the bridge they crossed from Paris. From the guardroom, a spiral staircase leads down to the royal wine cellars, but tourists are not allowed in. After visiting the Chateau, you can visit the wine cellar in Amboise and explore the structure of the dungeon from the underground fortress of Breze, located nearby in the Loire Valley*. But now we move on to the Council Chamber and the Estates General, where the entire military and political leadership of France, headed by the King, met for a long time. The most important political decisions were made in this meeting room. Beautiful ceilings and columns with decorations, the king’s chair with lilies and two fireplaces with imitation wood burning. These fireplaces are a favorite place for tourists from all over the world to take photos, both standing and sitting, and even lying down. The lilies and heraldic symbols of Brittany – ermine tails, remind us of Anne of Brittany, the wife of King Charles VIII. To insulate the room, beautiful old tapestries with various historical subjects hang on the walls. In our opinion, this is the largest collection of tapestries among French museums. Francis I was not only a patron of the arts during the Renaissance, but also organized gala receptions, balls for officers and feudal lords with their wives, and various entertainment events. Life in the Castle and in France in general became more cheerful, the terraces were also redesigned for gala events. In the rooms of the palace there are many oil portraits and engravings dedicated to the activities of Francis I, Mary Stuart, and Francis II in Amboise. But Za Sovet also saw dark moments in the history of France. The audio guide tells about the Amboise conspiracy. At the height of the religious wars in 1560, members of the House of Bourbon (Huguenots) decided to stage a palace coup and seize power by force from the Guise family and the young Francis II. The plot was discovered, and the participants were hanged on the walls of the city and the balcony of the royal palace. The smell of decomposition from 1,200 corpses was so strong that the court left the royal palace. On March 12, 1563, Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, and Catherine de Medici signed a peace treaty in Amboise, which allowed Protestants to hold religious services, but outside the city.

The next rooms will be the chambers of King Henry II, who also loved to organize entertainment events. The large room is called the “cup-bearer’s room” and served as a tasting room for the King and his guests. Note the folding Italian tables, furniture and dishes that were fashionable at the time. The Loire wines were of excellent quality and world-famous many centuries ago, so visiting the winery after visiting Amboise Chateau has become a tradition for tourists. But this is later, and now we are going to the bedroom of Henry II, where his bed, furniture, carved chest and interior items have been preserved. In front of the bedroom on the other side is the rope room, dedicated to the warrior Saint Michael the Archangel. The king’s reception room received its unusual name due to the rope-shaped decorations. Ropes are symbols of the death penalty and fearlessness, used in the army to decorate uniforms called aiguillettes. Henry II and Catherine de Medici built another gallery and the House of the Seven Benefactors, but they did not survive.
After leaving the rooms of King Henry II, we go to the wing of the Dukes of Orleans. Here, the bedroom, study, fireplaces, furniture and interior items are perfectly preserved. You can see how the artistic tastes of this era changed. The Duke of Penthièvre ordered chairs with Chinese drawings. The hall with musical instruments has interesting exhibits in its collection, among which it is worth mentioning the piano and harp. This section of the Palace has a large collection of oil paintings dedicated to the reign of Louis Philippe and the Dukes of Orleans.
The Revolution declared war on palaces and churches and destroyed everything mercilessly. In 1789, a fire broke out in the House of the Seven Virtues, and Senator Roger Ducos, an associate of Napoleon Bonaparte, then destroyed these dilapidated buildings in 1806. By 1811, the wing of Henry II and the 11th-century Collegiate Church of Saint-Florentin with the tomb of Leonardo da Vinci were destroyed. Some of the buildings on the terraces were also destroyed and the gardens were remade. In 1814, the Russian Cossacks and allies took Paris, and Napoleon’s power collapsed. During the first Restoration of the monarchy, Château d’Amboise was returned to the legitimate heirs of the Bourbon dynasty, Louise-Marie-Adélaïde, Duchess of Orleans, who had returned from exile in Spain. Then came Napoleon’s “Hundred Days” and “Flight of the Eagle”, during which, in 1815, Amboise Château was used as a prison fortress. And finally, after these events, the Castle was finally returned to its owners, the family of the Dukes of Orleans.

Minim Tower, Loire Valley Observation Deck and Knights’ Ramp

Louis-Philippe wanted to use Amboise Château as a holiday home for his family, and commissioned his son Ferdinand-Philippe to build a salon and a special viewing platform on the roof of the Minim Tower in 1843, overlooking the Loire and the gardens. The salon has not survived to this day, but tourists now use the viewing platform for panoramic views of the surrounding area.

The tour of the palace ends with an exit to the terraces via the knights’ ramp. We see the palace from the other side, the terraces, the gardens and the monument to Leonardo da Vinci.

Château d’Amboise opening hours of the castle for visitors. Open to visitors throughout the year except January 1st and December 25th.
See on the Loire Valley map – Château d’Amboise.
How to visit by yourself or book a private sightseeing tour.

• Loire Valley Private Tours from Paris or Charles de Gaulle Airport with 3 Castles in One Day Sightseeing trip by a car with a English speaking guide.

WW2 battlefield tours and Amboise Castle

As it was written above, during the Second World War, the terraces of the Amboise castle were used as the location of German anti-aircraft guns. Thus, the engineering architecture of the Middle Ages was used in the Second World War. During specialized tours of the battlefields in the Loire Valley with a visit to the tank museum in Saumur or the Military Engineers in Angers, the royal castle of Amboise can be included in the itinerary.