The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley (Vallée de la Loire) in France. The château is situated in the commune of Le Lude in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays de la Loire and stands at the crossroads of Anjou, Maine and Touraine. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries. It is a harmonious combination of French design and an English-style landscape, with a rose garden, topiaries, a labyrinth and a botanical walk.
The original fortress was built between the 10th and 11th centuries on the banks of the river Loir in order to defend Anjou from the incursions of the Normans and then the English during the Hundred Years War.
Louis XI's chamberlain, Jehan de Daillon, took possession of the Lude estates at the end of the 15th century. He employed Italian artists to convert the fortress into a residence.
In 1751, Le Lude became the property of Joseph Duvelaër, head of the Council of The French East India Company. His niece, the Marquise de la Vieuville, built the classical wing in the style of Louis XVI and defended the château during the French Revolution. Her descendants, the Talhouët-Roy, carried out extensive works of restoration throughout the 19th century. Le Lude has been passed down to the current occupants Count and Countess Louis-Jean de Nicolaÿ, who have carried on its tradition of restoration and decoration.
Open to visitors from early April to late September, the inside of the castle is richly decorated, with a number of attractions: the great library from the 19th century, a Louis XVI style oval drawing room, a cabinet of paintings by the Raphael school, a dining room adorned with Flanders tapestries, vaulted kitchens complete with copper utensils...
The house is surrounded by superb gardens, an ideal place to take a walk or enjoy a moment's reverie: the Spur Garden with its rose garden full of Chinese roses, the French-style garden along the Loir, designed by landscape gardener Édouard André, the Spring Garden with its rocaille decoration, full of perennials and scented shrubs, a botanical walk through the park and more.
Events for your diary: the Gardeners' Festival in the first weekend of June, and the Kitchen and Gourmet Garden Days in July and August.
