Château d'Amboise, Medieval castle in Loire Valley, France
The Château d'Amboise is a royal residence built on a limestone promontory above the Loire River in the center of the town of Amboise. The complex includes several residential towers with Gothic windows, a late-Gothic chapel, and two spiral ramps that allowed riders and carriages to reach the upper floors directly.
Charles VIII began transforming the medieval stronghold into a royal residence in the new Italian style starting in 1492, bringing craftsmen from Naples. His successor Louis XII continued the work, but the castle gradually lost its importance as a main seat after the 16th century.
Francis I was raised at Amboise, which belonged to his mother, Louise of Savoy, and the court still stayed there in the first years of his reign, including the first eight months of 1518. He invited Leonardo da Vinci, who came in December 1515 and lived at the nearby Clos Lucé. Leonardo died on 2 May 1519 and was buried in the Chapel of St Florentin, razed at the end of the 18th century; the chapel of Saint-Hubert now holds his presumed remains.
The site sits in the center of the town of Amboise and can be reached on foot from the Loire riverbank. Visitors should wear sturdy shoes because many paths run over cobblestones and stone steps, and there are several staircases to climb between levels.
The two riding towers, the Tour des Minimes and the Tour Heurtault, have broad spiral ramps that let riders and carriages reach the terraces without dismounting. The Tour Hurtault's rampart walk, a paved sentry path along the wall, offers a view over the Loire and the town below.
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