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The Royal Château at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France, is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture that blends traditional medieval forms with classical Italian structures.
It is the largest castle in the Loire Valley, but was built to serve only as a hunting lodge for King François I who maintained his royal residences at Château de Blois and at Château d'Amboise. The original design of the Château de Chambord was by Domenico da Cortona, but was altered considerably during the twenty years of its construction (1519‑1539). Leonardo da Vinci, a guest of King Francois at Clos Lucé near Amboise, is believed to have been involved in the original design. Nearing completion, King François showed off his enormous symbol of wealth and power by hosting his old enemy, Emperor Charles V.
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The massive castle features 6 immense towers, 440 rooms, 365 fireplaces, and 84 staircases. Four rectangular vaulted hallways on each floor form a cross-shape, meeting in the center. One of the architectural highlights, and very popular with the general public, is the spectacular double-helix open staircase where people can ascend and descend at the same time without ever meeting.
The castle is surrounded by a 52.5‑km² (13,000‑acre) wooded park and game reserve filled with Red Deer enclosed by a 31‑kilometre (20‑mile) wall.
For more than eighty years after the death of King François, French kings all but abandoned the castle, allowing it to fall into decay. Finally, in 1639 King Louis XIII gave it to his brother Gaston d'Orleans who saved the castle from ruin by carrying out much restoration work. King Louis XIV had the great donjon restored and furnished the royal apartments. The king then added a 300 horse stable enabling him to use the castle as a hunting lodge and a place to entertain such notables as Molière for a few weeks each year. Nonetheless, Louis XIV abandoned the castle in 1685.
From 1725 to 1733, Stanislas I (Stanislas Leszczynski), the deposed king of Poland and father-in-law of King Louis XV lived at Chambord. In 1745, as a reward for his fighting valor the king gave the castle to Maurice de Saxe, Marshal of France who installed his military regiment there. Maurice de Saxe died in 1750 and once again the colossal castle sat empty for many years.
In 1792, the Revolutionary government ordered the sale of the furnishings and the empty castle was left abandoned until Napoleon Bonaparte gave the castle to French military leader Louis Alexander Berthier whose widow sold it to the Duke of Bordeaux, who then took the title Comte de Chambord. A brief attempt at restoration and occupation was made by King Charles X (1824-1830) but little was done and during the Franco-Prussian War, (1870-1871) the castle was used as a field hospital.
The final attempt to make use of the colossus came from the Comte de Chambord and his offspring but after the Comte died in 1883, the castle was left to the Ducal family of Parma, Italy. Any attempts at restoration ended with the onset of World War I in 1914. The castle became the property of the Government of France in 1930 but restoration work was not begun until a few years after World War II ended in 1945.
Today, it is a major tourist attraction.
- Official site (http://www.chambord.org/anglais.htm)de:Schloss Chambord