Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Bonaventure, located in Huismes in Indre-et-Loire, was built in the 15th century as a hunting house for Louis XI, who stayed there several times between 1479 and 1482. The Royal Accounts of 1478, 1480 and 1482 mention payments for works and stays under the name "La Bonne Adventure". The king lived there more than a dozen times, enjoying his proximity to the Chinon forest. After his death, the castle was gradually abandoned, despite attempts at restoration in the 18th century. It was finally demolished in 1745, leaving only a few vestiges such as the entrance gate, a crenellated tower and enclosure walls.

The estate of Uzage, adjacent to Bonaventure, was redesigned in the 18th and 19th centuries to form a landscaped park. The 18th century castle has classic facades with triangular pediment, extended by two wings in the 19th century. A cylindrical escape (pigeonnier) was transformed into a chapel during this period. The park, enclosed by a wall, integrates natural elements such as a pond, an artificial island and wooded trails, resulting from successive developments, notably by landscapers Louis and René Decorges in the 1930s. The remains of Bonaventure, listed as historical monuments in 1962, are now integrated into this park.

The history of the two castles is related to the royal hunting and the evolution of seigneurial estates in Touraine. Bonaventure, originally designed for Louis XI, illustrates the decline of secondary royal residences after the 15th century. Uzage, on the other hand, reflects the architectural and landscape transformations of the 18th and 19th centuries, marked by the influence of romanticism and aristocratic arrangements. The two sites, while distinct, form a coherent heritage complex, reflecting centuries of local and national history.

The architectural remains of Bonaventure include a walled gate, a crenellated tower (the Gardens Tower), and fragments of brick walls belonging to the main house. The building of the communes, partially preserved, had seven heated rooms, while the chapel dedicated to Saint Bonaventure completely disappeared. A watercolour of 1699 (Gaignières collection) and a plan of 1704 (by Turgot de Sousmont) document the state of the castle before its destruction. These elements, though fragmentary, offer an overview of the spatial organization of a medieval hunting residence.

The Uzage Park, classified in 2010, combines classical elements (axial perspectives, parkland) and landscapers ( pond, island, woodland). The Napoleonic cadastral plan reveals an initial geometric structure, reshaped after 1837 to adopt a more natural style. Subsequent developments, such as wooden bridges, a pier and conifer plantations, date back to the 1930s. This park, now open to the visit, illustrates the evolution of French gardens from the 18th to the 20th century, mixing royal heritage and private creations.

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