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there was a fortress in the forest of Boulogne, surrounded
by swamps. It belonged to the Count of Blois who loved
to hunt and to halt to the castle. Himself a great hunter,
François 1st, back from Italy war in 1516, attracted
by the place, razed the fortress and start work in 1519.
His plan was to display its splendor and power by building
the largest and most beautiful of Rebirth castles, as
will later do king Louis XIV with Versailles. This was
achieved: with its 156 meters by 117 meters, its 440
rooms, Chambord is the largest of the castles of the
Loire valley. Its 77 staircases, 282 fireplaces and
800 carved capitals are what many regard as the most
beautiful castle of the Loire valley. The Emperor Charles
V, who visited the castle in 1539, said amazed "Chambord
is a compendium of human industry." In Italy, Francis
1 does not return only with admiration for the architectural
beauties seen, but also with the greatest genius of
Italy at the time: Leonardo da Vinci. In the three years
that he will live in Clos-Luçay, he will provide project
plans to François 1st. We think it establishes for the
king, plans for Chambord, and we owe him the famous
spiral, said "double revolution" staircase. The building
of Chambord is spread over several centuries, since
the roof of the west wing of the castle will be laid
in the eighteenth century. Originally François 1st wanted
Chambord to be surrounded by waters of the river Loire.
He had to abandon this project too difficult to achieve,
for the time, and the river Cosson was choosed. After
François 1st, his son Henry II signed at Chambord in
1552, an alliance with the Turkish and German Protestant
princes, done against Charles Quint (which leads to
control the three bishoprics of Metz, Toul and Verdun).
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While
the successors of Henry II, Francis II and Charles
IX came often to hunt in the forest, Henry III and
Henry IV does not frequented Chambord. By cons, Louis
XIII often came in Chambord and his son, Louis XIV
will make 9 trips, and it is where Molière creates
"Monsieur de Pourceaugnac". Subsequently, Louis
XV took the castle available to his stepfather Stanislas
Leszczynski, the deposed king of Poland. Stanislas
Leszczynski, not atending the scene, the king donated
the castle to Marshal de Saxe, the natural son of
the man who ... dethroned Stanislas ! The Marshal
will lead a luxurious life, surrounded by two regiments
of cavalry composed of Tartars, Vlachs and Martinique.
After the death of Marshal of Saxe (1750), the castle,
also very wet as built in a swampy area (it is built
on stilts sunk a 12m deep), is neglected. During the
Revolution, the castle was pillaged. After various
adventures, the castle was bought in 1930, to the
heirs of the Count of Chambord, by the French state.
Today, Chambord has kept its tradition of hunting,
since it is a hunting reserve since 1948. It is the
largest enclosed forest park in Europe, an area of
5 440 hectares, of which 4 500 wood (planted with
oak, pine, birch, hornbeam, chestnut, alder, willows).
The park is surrounded by a wall of 32 km, the longest
in France, pierced with six gates corresponding to
the six paths leading to the castle. Since 1981, the
castle is a World Heritage site by UNESCO. And included
since 2000 in the area of classification as World
Heritage by UNESCO in the Loire
Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes-sur-Loire.
We must not forget that the park is one of the essential
attractions Chambord by its flora and fauna diversity.
Thus we find 5 540ha (acres) of oak, pine forests,
moors, marshes and glades. An area of over 1000ha,
equipped for receiving the public, has bike paths,
walking and biking, bridle paths, and observatories,
accessible freely to enjoy the fauna and flora
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