Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Champchevrier, located in Clère-les-Pins en Touraine, finds its origins in the Middle Ages with a fortress attested from 1109, owned by a seigneurial line dating back to the 11th century. The family of Maillé (Luynes branch) inherited in the 13th century via Hardouin V, then the estate passed to the Daillon du Lude by marriage in the 16th century. The latter, descendants of Françoise de Maillé and François de Bastarnay, retained Champchevrier until 1657, when Charlotte-Marie de Daillon, wife of the Duke of Roquelaure, became his last heir.

In 1728, Marshal Antoine-Gaston de Roquelaure sold the castle to Jean-Baptiste-Pierre-Henri de La Ruë du Can, annobli Baron de Champchevrier in 1741 by letters patent. This adviser to the king and treasurer, whose family still owns the estate, undertook major transformations: the addition of an 18th building to the north-east façade, the creation of a terrace, and the preservation of Renaissance decorations such as the sill windows. The castle, which has been inhabited continuously since 1728, also houses a furry crew founded in 1804, perpetuating a cynegetic tradition rooted in this forest country once infested with wolves.

Ranked a Historical Monument in 1945 (then extended in 1975 to the communes, park and canal), Champchevrier illustrates the architectural evolution of the Loire castles. The Renaissance house, remodeled in the 17th to 18th centuries, preserves the furniture of the Regency period (tapisseries of Beauvais, woodwork of the Château de Richelieu), while the chapel and the dovecote bear witness to the original commons. The moat, dug by the regiment of the Duke of Roquelaure, and the balustrade terrace (XVIIIe) underline its landscape integration.

The site is also distinguished by its collections related to hunting: trophies, pack of 70 Anglo-French dogs, and a bronze group offered by the owners of Villandry. Louis XIII briefly stayed there in 1619, the castle blends aristocratic memory with family life, as evidenced by the Duchess of Dino in 1836, describing a "simple and honourable" mansion dedicated to hunting and local meetings. The mythological tapestries (after Simon Vouet) and the leathers of Cordoba adorning the panels recall his past prestige.

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