Sleeping Beauty Castle, Renaissance castle in Rigny-Ussé, France.
Château d'Ussé is a Renaissance castle in Rigny-Ussé featuring white limestone walls with octagonal towers crowned by slate roofs and elegant French gardens. The structure rises above the Indre River and showcases architectural styles from different periods.
The site began as a wooden fortress built against Viking raids and evolved over centuries into a sophisticated residence. Its architecture blends medieval, Renaissance, and classical elements that accumulated through different construction phases.
The castle inspired Charles Perrault to write his famous fairy tale, creating a lasting bond between this place and literature that visitors can feel when walking through its halls. The connection shows how buildings can become part of storytelling traditions.
The castle opens to visitors from February through December across its rooms, gardens, and displays of period costumes throughout the space. Plan to spend several hours exploring the various areas at your own pace.
The rooms feature life-sized character figures from the famous story displayed throughout the castle space. These scenic representations bring the connection between the building and the literary work to life in a direct way.
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