Azay-le-Rideau Castle in Loire Valley

Azay-le-Rideau is a Renaissance style chateau in the Loire Valley built on an island in the Indre River between 1518 and 1527. A  Paris Travel can arrange a Loire Valley group or private tour for you to visit Azay-le-Rideau.

Gilles Berthelot was the Mayor of Tours and Treasurer-General of the Finances of France and it was for Monsieur Berthelot that the castle was built.  However, he had a falling out because of a financial scandal and fled France. King Francois I claimed the castle for his own.

Architectural notes of interest:

The proportions and decorations are Italianate.
The pointed cones at the corners are French.
Central staircase is the main interest.
The salamander and ermine (emblems of King Francois I) are on the pilasters leading up to the first loggia.

Honore de Balzac, the French novelist and playwright (1799-1850) called Azay-le-Rideau “a facetted diamond set in the Indre.”

Open every day
October to March: 10 am to 5:15 pm
April to June and in September: 9:30 am to 6 pm
July and August: 9:30 am to 7 pm
Last admissions 1 hour before closing.

Closed
on January 1, May 1 and December 25

Adult rate: 8.50 €
Reduced rate: 5 €
Adult group rate: 6.50 € (minimum 20 persons)
School group rate: 30 € (maximum 35 students, 2 accompanying adults included, adult group rate for additional accompanying adult)

Free admission:
Minors under 18 (family visit)
18-25 years old (for people under 26 years old who are citizens of one the 27 countries of EU or are non-European permanent residents of France)
Disabled visitors and their escorts
Unemployed persons

Read more about Azay-le-Rideau Castle.

Source

Polidor, Robert and Peroud de Montclos, Jean-Marie. Chateaux of the Loire Valley. Paris: Konemann. 1997