Gentle Friends, the next chateau we visited was very near Saumur and Le Puy where we were staying... and called the Chateau de Breze (pronounced Bree-zay)...this is a smaller chateau but so interesting as it is dry moated. The main castle was transformed in the 16th century and then again in the 19th century. The current structure has remained in the Renaissance style with lots of medieval elements including a drawbridge and a 12th-century troglodyte basement and really extensive caves. It is still the residence of the descendants of the ancient Lords of the Manor, the Marquess Dreux-Breze...
... this is the first building you come upon after leaving the car park and ticket building... it's the 16th century Pigeonnier...
... although there are no pigeons house here anymore there is room for thoudsands of birds if they were to ever to return...
... the Chateau proper is not as imposing as some but as you get closer you can see why this place is so interesting...
... to the left of the main building at the kitchens and storage buildings...
... on either side are imposing domed towers and as you head towards the drawbridge...
... and look down you can see the "deepest dry moat" in Europe...
... they are really very deep and impressive......
... once inside the main court you see the lovely main Chateau building and gardens...
and the loge with the long gallery on top...
... this immense room in one of the domed towers was used for low ranking servants, but the structure is so great...
... loking straight up into the rafters...
_________________
... the first room after the tower on the tour is the "Bishops Room" this room was redecorated in the 1840's in the neo-gothic style. The walls are covered in oak woodwork with Trompe-l'oeil decoration. The furniture is also of oak sculpted with the Dreux-Breze arms and was made specifically for the room...
... the ceiling beams are really spectacular!!
_______________
... moving along the next room is the Neo-renaissance Study with a gorgeous sculpted and painted ceiling...
________________
... then it's on to the Richelieu Room... built in the 16th century the room retains the original tomette tiles and the renaissance fireplace, all the furniture is from the 16th century. In 1617, Urbain de Maille-Breze the first Marquis in the family married Nicole du Plessis the sister of the Cardinal Richelieu who took a special interest in his sister and her husband the Marquis that this room was dedicated and furnished...
_______________
In 1863 there began the building of this reception hall which is 26.80 meters long and was intended to provide a second-floor link between the Chateau's two parallel buildings - it wasn't until 2006 that the decoration for this long gallery was completed and now houses the protrtaits dedicated to the Marquises of Dreux-Breze...
... it was really bright and sunny and taking pictures of the portraits was very difficult, but this is one turned out ok... it's a portrait of Henri de Dreux-Breze (1762-1829) - he was the grand master of ceremonies to the Court of Louis XIV at Versailles...
... the end neo-gothic door and medieval fresco...
... at the other end a matching door and frame with medieval inspired frescos...heading down underground...
... the cellars... then its going underground ...
... there are huge rooms and lots of fern and moss... all barrel vaulted...
... then there are the caves and we walked andwalkedd all over them, they were at least 20 degrees cooler then outside in the sunshine...
in the dry moat...
back in the caves and the silkworm rooms, there was a huge silk business here...
looking out from the caves at the lower parts of the chateau...
... the kitchen/bakery built in the caves...the fireplace was once fitted with racks and allowed all types of foods to be cooked. It has three ovens: 2 large bread ovens, and a small one to the left, for sweet dishes. Over 100kg of bread could be cooked during each cooking session. This oven is still used during events at the chateau...
... more walking around in the dry moat...
... this is looking up at th draw bridge ... here are some figures I noted about the chateau:
height: 48 meters, 5 different families have had ownership of the Chateau and the surrounding vinyards, opened to the public in 1988 with about 2300 visitors that first year and in 2014 they had about 80,000 visitors, estimated under roof 28000 meters, the moats, are about 18 meters deep and range from 15 to 18 meters wide. They were first dug out in the 15th century and then again deepened in the 16th century.
_____________
There you go sports fans... more to come, stay tuned!!
Take care,
edgar
height: 48 meters, 5 different families have had ownership of the Chateau and the surrounding vinyards, opened to the public in 1988 with about 2300 visitors that first year and in 2014 they had about 80,000 visitors, estimated under roof 28000 meters, the moats, are about 18 meters deep and range from 15 to 18 meters wide. They were first dug out in the 15th century and then again deepened in the 16th century.
_____________
There you go sports fans... more to come, stay tuned!!
Take care,
edgar
How fascinating! I enjoyed the pictures of the caves, the barrel vaulted rooms with the plants growing inside, and that dry moat. Thanks, Edgar.
ReplyDeleteWow! All of this is so interesting!
ReplyDeleteLove your tour. I'm a huge fan of old castles. I especially like the painted beams. THanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos I feel like I was on the tour with you Robyn
ReplyDelete