Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Gien, located in the Loiret department in the Centre-Val de Loire region, was built from 1482 on the foundations of a medieval fortress under the impulse of Anne de France and Pierre II de Beaujeu. It marks the transition between the Middle Ages and the First French Renaissance, with a brick architecture and a dardian roof. The site, strategic on the margins of the Duchy of Burgundy, was successively owned by the Counts of Nevers, the kings of France, and the Bourbons before being confiscated by François I.

Over the centuries, the castle has housed illustrious characters such as Catherine de Medici, Henry II, or Louis XIV, who took refuge there during the Fronde. It was transformed into a prison and sub-prefecture in the 19th century and was partially damaged during the 1940 bombings. Since 1952, it has hosted a museum dedicated to hunting, born from a post-Second World War initiative to revitalize Gien. The collections, enriched by donations and deposits, include works by J.-B. Oudry and objects related to falconry.

Ranked a historic monument in 1840, the castle underwent major restorations, notably between 2012 and 2017, for a cost of nine million euros. In 2017 it reopened under the name "Château-musée de Gien: hunting, history and nature in Val-de-Loire", highlighting its unique architectural heritage and collections. The site, integrated into the route of the Loire castles, attracts thousands of visitors every year, with 17,317 admissions in 2011.

The building dominates the city of Gien from a promontory overlooking the Loire, near the church of Sainte-Jeanne-d-Arc. It is part of a cultural landscape marked by the Loire by bicycle and the GR 3, while maintaining traces of its medieval past, such as the foundations of a seigneurial tower brought to light between 2011 and 2014. Its museum houses rare pieces such as powder pears, photographs of the Séeberger brothers, and 15th-century Japanese paintings.

The castle illustrates the political and architectural changes of France, from its defensive role in the Middle Ages to its contemporary museum vocation. Its history reflects the conflicts between kingdoms, the marital strategies of the sovereigns, and the evolution of the uses of castles, from seigneurial residences to places of administrative power, then cultural.

Collection

Depuis 2017 et après plusieurs années de travaux, le Musée offre une muséographie moderne, Les collections remarquables sur les techniques de chasses au vol, à courre et à tir sont désormais présentées pour les rendre accessibles à tous et replacer l'histoire de la chasse au coeur du Val de Loire.

External links