The 250-metre-long Château de Gizeux

Located in the commune of Gizeux in the Indre-et-Loire département, the Château de Gizeux stands in the heart of the Parc naturel régional Loire-Anjou-Touraine. This historic edifice dates back to the Middle Ages and has been altered over the centuries, notably during the French Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment. Measuring 250 metres long, it is the longest château in Touraine angevine.

The manor of Gizeux belonged to the family of the poet Joachim du Bellay from 1315 to 1660. It later became the property of several marquises of Gizeux from the family of Contades. During the French Revolution in 1789, Prince Louis Gabriel de Contades was forced to flee French soil to find refuge in Saint-Domingue, eventually returning to Gizeux in 1801. The château was a dependency of the sénéchaussée de Saumur and the former province of Anjou until 1790, when the area was attached to the département of Indre-et-Loire.

The buildings today conserve parts built at different times, creating a mix of medieval and Renaissance styles. The interior features two large galleries of paintings: the Galerie François Ier, decorated with Italian paintings from the start of the 17th century, and the Grande Galerie des Châteaux, which features late 17th-century paintings covering more than 400 m2.

The park land surrounding the château was established in 1829. Nearby, a church houses the splendid tombs of the Du Bellays. These tombs feature extremely rare 17th-century orants made of white marble by Ghislain, who was the director of the Académie royale de peinture et sculpture in Paris. The Château de Gizeux has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1945.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons