Villandry – everything you need to know to visit the Villandry Castle
Villandry Castle refers to one of the most famous Loire Valley Castles estate located west of the city of Tours, in Villandry, in the department of Indre-et-Loire, France.
Villandry Classification
The Villandry estate has been classified as a historical monument since 1927. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Villandry Castle – practical information
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Visits
The gardens and the castle are open to visitors for most of the year. The gardens are open every day of the year. Reservation is not necessary. Tickets can be purchased online on the official Château de Villandry website.
Visiting hours
Visiting hours of the Château de Villandry are from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., or from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in high season.
Prices
Villandry visit prices range from 7.50 euros to visit the gardens, and 12 euros to visit the castle and the gardens. There is a youth rate and a group rate.
Domain of Villandry – Access
Access to the Château de Villandry is easy by taking the A 85 – E60 motorway, and exit 8. There are a few kilometers to go on the D7, before you find the château on your way.
Parking is easy, using the main car park which is located opposite the estate on the D7.
Domain Services
The services offered are diverse. Indeed, the site offers three different shops, a reservation site, 3 catering sites, and 3 different accommodation sites.
Events at the estate
The estate participates in events, such as the night of the castles, or the vegetable garden days. Temporary exhibitions are also organized.
Villandry Castle– Presentation of the estate
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The castle
The Villandry Castle consists of a dungeon, the only vestige of medieval times. The building is surmounted by steeply sloping slate roofs, which give a lighter style, adorned with skylights each comprising a pediment and a high relief. The facades have aligned windows decorated with cornices and pilasters. The monument also includes arcaded galleries and a main courtyard opening onto the Loire.
The donjon of the Château deVillandry
The donjon constitutes a choice element of the castle, and it is all that remains of the medieval fortress. It retains its spiral staircase.
The library
The estate’s library contains works relating to Joachim Carvallo and Ann Coleman.
The François 1er room
The François 1er room – located in the medieval keep – was inaugurated in 2015, during the commemoration of the fifth centenary of the coronation of King François 1er. This room includes a permanent exhibition linked to François 1er and the Renaissance and also presents temporary exhibitions.
The other rooms of the Villandry Castle
Villandry has many other interesting living rooms: the dining room, the living room and the study, the dining room, the kitchen, the oriental living room, the gallery of paintings, the main staircase, and several bedrooms – Prince Jérôme’s bedroom, Joachim Carvallo’s bedroom, the Vegetable garden bedroom, the moat bedroom, and the children’s bedrooms.
Villandry – The gardens
The gardens of Villandry are all close to the castle and are divided into three gardens: the ornamental garden, the vegetable garden, and the water garden.
The ornamental garden
The ornamental garden is divided into two: the garden of love, made up of 4 squares, and the garden of crosses, representing the cross of Malta, the Basque country and Languedoc, and the fleur-de-lis.
The Audience Pavilion
This small building located in the south of the estate, is part of the French gardens, and was designed by the Marquis de Castellane. He welcomed the villagers and peasants there in audience.
The water garden
It is located to the south of the park and consists of a central water mirror, surrounded by open and grassed plots.
The garden of the sun
The sun garden is made up of 3 distinct spaces: the children’s room, the sun room, and the cloud room. Note in the sun room, the basin in the shape of an eight-pointed star.
The labyrinth at the Château de Villandry
The labyrinth is one of the usual elements of Renaissance gardens. This one is made of bower, and is made from Renaissance garden plans.
Villandry Castle – History
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A medieval fortress
The original name of Chateau de Villandry is Colombiers, or Coulombiers. It is a medieval fortress. From this period, there remains the keep, later integrated into the Renaissance monument. It is estimated that there was certainly on both sides of the keep a body of building, forming an L with elements of defense.
The Renaissance at the Château de Villandry
It was under François 1er that Jean Breton, his finance secretary, bought the Villandry estate and gave the château a modern look. He renamed the estate ‘Villandry’, then, thanks to his travels in Italy and his experience at the Château de Chambord, he undertook works that would completely revolutionize the medieval fortress. L-shaped, the main building will be increased by an additional wing giving it a U-shape. The architecture is worked to give it the appearance of an Italian Renaissance castle, with arcades, skylights, slate roofs, and a building open to the Loire.
The 18th century
The chateau was acquired by the Count of Castellane in 1754 and he carried out major works which will modify the appearance of the chateau and the estate, in particular the comfort elements inside, including a staircase, which will lead to the demolition of the inner tower of the main courtyard.
The estate was enlarged and the park was embellished with formal gardens, with terraces, orangeries, etc. A pavilion, the Pavillon de l’Audience, was built.
The 20th century
Joachim Carvallo acquires the castle at the beginning of the 20th century and decides to redevelop the gardens so that they correspond more to what a French garden should be. He carries out a work of historian, to carry out works most faithful to what should have been the gardens of Villandry.
