Azay Le Rideau

A chateau with elegance so extreme the king made it his

Now named after its château, the village was once known as Azay-le-Brûlé or “Azay the Burnt.” Traveling through with his court in 1418, the dauphin, later Charles VII, was insulted by the Burgundians. The result: A whole garrison was killed and the village and its fortress razed. Today’s château was built upon the ruins of the destroyed structure.

Today, the chateau’s machicolated towers and blue-slate roof pierced with dormers shimmer in the surrounding moat, creating a reflection like a Monet painting. The defensive medieval look is all for show: the Renaissance Château d'Azay-le-Rideau was created as a residence at an idyllic spot on the Indre River. Gilles Berthelot, François I's finance minister, commissioned the castle, and his spendthrift wife, Philippa, supervised its construction. So elegant was the creation that the Chevalier King grew jealous. Berthelot was accused of misappropriation of funds and forced to flee, and the château reverted to the king. He didn't live here, but granted it to "friends of the Crown." It became the property of France in 1905.

© 2009, Wiley Publishing, Inc.