Château de Chambord, Renaissance château in the Loire Valley, France
Château de Chambord is a Renaissance château in the Loire Valley, built in pale limestone with a central keep flanked by four large corner towers. Its roofline is covered with a forest of turrets, chimneys and dormers that make the building instantly recognisable from a distance.
Francis I commissioned the château in 1519 as a hunting lodge attached to his residence at Blois; the site's older fortified castle and village church were demolished to make way for it. The king stayed there only 42 days in 32 years of reign. In 1792 the furnishings were sold and the timber removed; it became state property in 1932.
The double helix staircase in the central keep is built so that two people can climb up and down at the same time without ever crossing paths. Those who reach the top can look down through the open centre and watch the other person descend without having met them.
The château is open almost all year round but closes on a few public holidays. The interior covers many floors and long corridors, so comfortable shoes are a good idea before setting out.
The château stands within a 52.5-square-kilometre wooded park and game reserve enclosed by a 31-kilometre wall, maintained with red deer. The king's plan to divert the Loire to surround the château appears only in the novel Amadís de Gaula, which Francis I had translated.
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