French Castles

Les Chateaux

Castles, chateau, towers, call them what you want, but in France the castles are very important. The helped defend the kingdom from foreign attacks, housed kings and queens, and provided a sense a security. There are many castles in France. They are located throughout France. Some of them are located in the Loire valley while others were built where the cities are today. Usually royalty had the castles built by hiring masons and other workers to do the job for him or her. Some of the most famous chateaux are Chambord, Chenonceau, and Versailles.

Chambourg is one of the nicest castles. It has 440 rooms, 365 chimneys, 800 steeples, and a 13,000-acre park all for the kings and queens who wanted to go hunting. King FranÐ"§ois I created this particular castle. This castle was used as a “tool of vengeance” because when this castle was purchased by Catherine de' Medici in 1560, she forced Diane de Poitiers to exchange Chambourg with Chenonceau. Another castle is Chenonceau. Thomas Bohier built this castle. When Bohier died it was given to FranÐ"§ois I as money because of a dept he had with the king at the time. When Henri II got his turn to stay at the castle, he gave it to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. She was forced out of the castle and was replaced by Catherine de' Medici.

The castle of Versailles is probably the most famous chateau in all of France. This castle is located 11 miles northwest of Paris. This castle was built in the 17th century for King Louis XIV. When King Louis started working on the castle, he hired all the most famous architects, painters, and gardeners at the time to make the whole area beautiful. For these reasons, this castle took over 50 years to build. At the height of King Louis’s reign, there were approximately 25,000 people living in the palace. Even though the castle is very old, much of it is as still