Château de Montsoreau
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Montsoreau Castle is a Renaissance chateau in the Loire Valley, located on the banks of the Loire River in the Maine-et-Loire department in the Pays de la Loire region of France. It is located in the small market town of Montsoreau in the Maine-et-Loire department near Saumur, Chinon, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye and Candes-Saint-Martin. Montsoreau Castle is the only one of the Loire castles to have been built on the Loire riverbed.
The management is in the hands of a private company. In 2015, the French art collector Philippe Méaille and the President of the French Department of Maine-et-Loire signed a 25-year lease on the property of the Château de Montsoreau. Philippe Méaille installed his exceptional collection of radical conceptualist Art & Language and opened the Montsoreau Castle - Museum of Contemporary Art in 2016.
The building was built around the middle of the 15th century by Jean II de Chambes, a confidant and diplomat of Charles VII, in place of an older structure. The strategically important castle once secured the road from Chinon to Saumur.
After the French Revolution, the castle was divided among several owners. In the end, the rooms were only used as apartments and storage rooms, and eventually the building fell into disrepair. The fact that the ruin remained popular is due in no small part to the novel La Dame de Monsoreau. After the department acquired the château, it was restored. In 2001, after extensive restoration work, the castle was reopened under the motto Les imaginaires de Loire.
The Loire River, which originally ran up against the castle walls, flowed through man-made ditches around the castle courtyard. This fits in with the castle-like impression that the building, which was built at the end of the Middle Ages, gives from the outside. On the courtyard side, however, the eastern staircase tower in particular is resplendent in the purest Renaissance décor. The elaborately designed roof zone of the main wing also disguises the fortified character. The halls inside still have their original beamed ceilings and fireplaces.
From the battlements of the castle, you have a view of the Loire and over the roofs of the market town of Montsoreau. You can also see the dried-up moat carved out of the rock between the castle and the village.
Montsoreau Castle has been listed as a historic building by the French Ministry of Culture since 1862. Since 2000, Montsoreau Castle has been part of the Loire Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Etymology
The name Mount Soreau (Castrum Monte Sorello, Mons Sorello, Mountsorrell, Monte-Sorel, Monsorel, Munsorel, Muntesorel or Montsorel) first appears in its Latin form in a cartulary in 1086. Mons or Monte (mountain) refers to the rocky promontory located in the Loire riverbed on which the fortress of Montsoreau was built. The name Sorello has not been interpreted. It is found in several Latinized forms: Sorello, Sorel, Sorelli.
Name variations
- Montsoreau
- Monsoreau
Château de Montsoreau
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Questions and Answers
Q: What is the Château de Montsoreau?
A: The Château de Montsoreau is a residential castle in Montsoreau, France.
Q: Where is the Château de Montsoreau located?
A: The Château de Montsoreau is located in Montsoreau, France in the Loire riverbed.
Q: Who opened the Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art and when?
A: Philippe Méaille opened the Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art in 2016.
Q: What is the world's largest collection of Art & Language works?
A: The world's largest collection of Art & Language works can be found at the Château de Montsoreau.
Q: What historical structures were previously built on the top of the "mount Soreau"?
A: A roman temple, a fortress of the counts of Anjou, and a chateau in the Renaissance architectural style were previously built on the top of the "mount Soreau".
Q: When was the Château de Montsoreau built and what is its significance?
A: The Château de Montsoreau was the first of the chateaux of the Loire Valley to be built in the Renaissance architectural style. It was built in a historical village, home of a royal fortified castle, in 1450 after King Charles VII and King Louis XII moved to Chinon and Tours, making the Loire Valley the centre of power of the ancien régime.
Q: How is the Château de Montsoreau referred to in English?
A: In English, the Château de Montsoreau is often referred to as Montsoreau.
