"King François 1er's 'hunting lodge' is a palace, not a cottage... It is one of the great European symbols of royal megalomania, a truly glorious and absurd monster of French architecture. From whichever way you approach Chambord... it makes a staggering sight, looking like a riotously exuberant yet self-contained royal city." So writes the author of the Cadogan guide to the Loire Valley — more quotes below.
"On first seeing it, you immediately realize you're in front of one of the greatest buildings in France." Or the world, I'd say.
"Work began on Chambord in 1519, but it's something of a mystery as to whom the original architect was. The name of Leonardo da Vinci, who spent the last few years of his life at [nearby] Amboise... is tantalizingly associated with Chambord, without firm evidence."
"The palace was virtually never lived in; as it was a building site for almost the entire span of François’ reign [1515-1547], he was scarcely able to spend much time here beyond the odd extravagant reception."
"François 1er wasn't a man afraid of advancing his own ideas, so it's quite possible he had a major influence on the planning [for Chambord], for instance maybe insisting on some of the features which have a traditional French feel."
"For although Chambord contains a panoply of Italianate Renaissance features, its general forms actually harp back a lot to medieval architecture. The formidably solid round towers at the corners, in particular, with their roofs like great upturned funnels, could come from a textbook image of a chivalric castle."
The least you can say, it is very impressive !
ReplyDeleteYes, it's an impressive and unique exterior. The interior -- hmm, not so much.
ReplyDeleteThe only interior I have ever seen was the famous spiral staircase.
DeleteSusan, I suspect a lot of the furniture, tapestries, etc. were carted off during the French Revolution as property of the state. Wikipedia confirms this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Chambord Also stating that revolutionaries took paneling and flooring.
DeleteBeautiful pictures, Ken!
ReplyDeleteAlways reminds me of "Gormenghast"!
ReplyDeleteImpressive, yes.... beautiful..... I think not.
Yes, it has some wonderful features, but it always strikes me as if it is an assemblage of bits....
The newly restored gardens that you showed yesterday, must have been the most beautiful bit.... they are now, anyway!
Leave it to you and Susan to see the negative side of things. LOL.
DeleteAmazing. And the photography is fabulous too :) ..
ReplyDeleteKen, you and your camera really do take great photos! These are great as memories for me of at day:)
ReplyDeleteJudy
I remember being there with you in April probably more than ten years ago now. I love the delicate beauty of the flag flying against the magnificent rooftop. Vive la France!
ReplyDeleteI remember how astonished I was the first time I saw Chambord, about 30 years ago. I've seen it a few times since, and it continued to amaze me. I don't recall the interior, and in fact if it wasn't for the mention of the famous spiral staircase, I would have said that I never was inside. But I must have been, unless there is another Loire chateau with a famous spiral staircase.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, are you able to erase spam comments like those above?
Yes, Bob, I just saw those comments and deleted them. I'll have to go mark them as spam. The château de Blois has a spiral staircase, but it isn't a double-helix staircase like the one at Chambord. The first time I was at Chambord was in wintertime about 45 years ago. There wasn't much in the way of furniture in the château back then, but big fires were roaring in all the fireplaces and it was very atmospheric. I always find it easy to say something is beautiful but I'm not so fast to declare something unbeautiful. Eye of the beholder, and all that.
DeleteThen I must have gone into Chambord, because I remember the staircase had that unique feature.
DeleteI'd love to have a tour/crawl through the attic.
ReplyDeleteRemember the wedding party we saw, where the groom's shoes had loooooong pointy toes?
Can you believe that Chambord wedding — those Chambord weddings, actually — took place almost 10 years ago? I posted about them here and here. You can see those pointy-toed shoes in the photos.
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