Château d'Azay-le-Ferron
Encyclopedia
The Château d'Azay-le-Ferron is a fifteenth-century castle and seventeenth-century manor located in the Commune of Azay-le-Ferron
in the Indre
Department of France. It also features a Garden à la française
and a French landscape garden
dating to the seventeenth century, redone in the nineteenth and twentieth century. The interior is richly furnished. The Château is owned by the city of Tours
, and is open to the public.
The castle is classified as a Monument historique
since 1950
in 1412. The tower of the first château, dated 1496, still stands, incorporated into later structures of the seventeenth century.
In 1560, the chateau passed to the family of Louis I de Cravant, who owned it until the end of the 17th century. The owners included Cesar de Vendôme, son of King Henry IV of France
and Gabrielle d'Estrées
, who became Baron of Preuilly by royal decree, and Louis IV de Crevant, a Maréchal in the army of Louis XIV. A residence and a new wing and pavilion were added to the tower in 1638, probably by Louis III de Crevant d'Humieres, and windows were pierced in the old tower to transform the fortress into a residence. This new wing was ornamented with the salamander emblem of King François I, and the ermine emblem of Claude de France.
In 1699, the baronnie Château d'Azay-le-Ferron was purchased by Louis-Nicolas Le Tonnelier de Breteuil. His daughter, Gabrielle-Emilie, was the mistress of Voltaire
from 1733 until 1737. The de Breteuil family owned the chateau until 1739, when it was sold to Louis François de Gallifet. The de Bretueil family probably constructed the east wing of the building, which carries their coat of arms.
After 1739, the estate passed to a long series of owners. Shortly after the Revolution, it was owned by two prominent manufacturers of weapons for the army of Napoleon. In 1852, it was purchased by Victor and Antoine Luzarche. They and their descendants owned the house through the rest of the nineteenth and early 20th century.
The granddaughter of Antoine Luzarche, Marthe, married George Hersent, a civil engineer and owner of a large firm which built canals and ports, and inherited the chateau in 1925. When she died, she left the house and park to the city of Tours.
On the ground floor, The small dining room has a buffet from the 18th century, and a collection of 18th century still life paintings. The Salle des Gardes contains a large collection of hunting trophies from Roger Luzarche d'Azay, including an enormous stuffed crocodile
. from his hunting trips to Africa in the late nineteenth century.
The grand stairway to the first floor has an inscription on the wall noting that it was built by Jacques de Crevant, Baron of Preuilly, in 1638. The Salon Empire on the first floor has a notable collection of furniture and art from the period of the First French Empire
collected by Gregoire Michel, a Paris banker and the owner of the house from 1803 to 1852. The bedroom of Madame Hersent has a notable Empire bed and furniture, and botanical painting by Jean-François Garneray (1775–1837). The Salon Resturation has a magnificent parquet floor in the form of a rose, taken from the private mansion in Versailes. The room was the bedroom of George Hersent.
The Salle Cassas features a gallery of drawings made by Louis-François Cassas
(1756–1827), who was born in the chateau, the godson of the Marquis de Gallifet, the owner at the time. From 1784 onwards, Cassas was in the company of the Count of Choiseul-Gouffier, the French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
. He traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire and made drawings of the monuments of Turkey
, Egypt
and Syria
. In 1816 he became the inspector of the royal manufactury of tapesestries of Gobelins
. , which represents the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War
.
The library features a large sixteenth century tapestry, "L'Enlevement des Sabines," from either Flanders or Paris, and the painting "L'Allegorie de la Paix, from 1641, by the Dutch artist Hendrick Martensz Sorgh (1611–1670).
The bedroom of Madame Luzarche d'Azay is furnished in the Louis XVI style, with the original pink striped wallpaper from the period.
The largest and most impressive room of the house, the Grand Salon, is located on the second floor. Its main features are an early 17th century painted ceiling, brought from the same house in Versailles as the parquet floor of the Salon Restauration; and richly decorated chests and cabinets from the Italian Renaissance
period. It displays three paintings by the Genoese artist Antonio Lagorio (1652–1690), and a painting of the Virgin and the Child by Simon François de Tours (1606–1671), believed to be an allegory about the birth of a child to Anne of Austria
, the Regent of Louis XIV..
The large dining room, also on the second floor, has fine wood panelling from the 1930s, a marble fountain from Languedoc, a large Baccarat
crystal chandelier, and Aubusson
tapestries representing Louis XV hunting.
The Salle Voltaire, furnished in the 18th century, recalls the romantic relationship between Voltaire and the daughter of Nicholas-Louis Le Tonnelier de Bretieul, owner of the chateau.
The Salon de la Tour, on the lower level of the tower, the oldest part of the chateau, displays French Regency period commodes and portraits of the early owners of the chateau.
In 1856 Antoine Luzarche commissioned the Buhler Brothers, landscape architects, to create a French landscape garden
, with perspectives, alleys and bosquets of trees, covering an area of eighteen hectares. The new park included an arboretum
of exotic trees, including Sequoia
trees from California.
Beginning in 1920, Georges Hersent added a classical Garden à la française, with broderies and topiary
, near the house, integrated with the architecture.
In 1995, the François Rabelais University
in Tours
created an orchard of pear
and apple
trees in one part of the park. In 1999, fruit trees on traditional espaliers were grown against the walls, along with table grapes from forty varieties. In 2003, a rose garden with 168 rosebushes of 56 varieties was added to the garden. In 2008 a path was added that traced the history of the rose from Roman times to the present..
Azay-le-Ferron
Azay-le-Ferron is a commune in the Indre department in central France.It is situated in the parc naturel régional de la Brenne, spanning parts of the historic pays of Berry and Touraine...
in the Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
Department of France. It also features a Garden à la française
Garden à la française
The French formal garden, also called jardin à la française, is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order over nature. It reached its apogee in the 17th century with the creation of the Gardens of Versailles, designed for Louis XIV by the landscape architect André Le...
and a French landscape garden
French landscape garden
The French landscape garden is a style of garden inspired by idealized Italian landscapes and the romantic paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, European ideas about Chinese gardens, and the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau...
dating to the seventeenth century, redone in the nineteenth and twentieth century. The interior is richly furnished. The Château is owned by the city of Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, and is open to the public.
The castle is classified as a Monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
since 1950
History
The first Château was constructed by Prégent Frotier in the late fifteenth century, on land which had belonged to Nicolas Turpin de Crissé in the 13th century, then became part of the barronie of PreuillyPreuilly
Preuilly may refer to the following places in France:*Preuilly, Cher, a commune in the department of Cher*Preuilly-sur-Claise, a commune in the department of Indre-et-Loire*Preuilly-la-Ville, a commune in the department of Indre...
in 1412. The tower of the first château, dated 1496, still stands, incorporated into later structures of the seventeenth century.
In 1560, the chateau passed to the family of Louis I de Cravant, who owned it until the end of the 17th century. The owners included Cesar de Vendôme, son of King Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
and Gabrielle d'Estrées
Gabrielle d'Estrées
Gabrielle d'Estrées, Duchess of Beaufort and Verneuil, Marchioness of Monceaux was a French mistress of King Henry IV of France, born at either the Château de la Bourdaisière in Montlouis-sur-Loire, in Touraine, or at the château de Cœuvres, in Picardy....
, who became Baron of Preuilly by royal decree, and Louis IV de Crevant, a Maréchal in the army of Louis XIV. A residence and a new wing and pavilion were added to the tower in 1638, probably by Louis III de Crevant d'Humieres, and windows were pierced in the old tower to transform the fortress into a residence. This new wing was ornamented with the salamander emblem of King François I, and the ermine emblem of Claude de France.
In 1699, the baronnie Château d'Azay-le-Ferron was purchased by Louis-Nicolas Le Tonnelier de Breteuil. His daughter, Gabrielle-Emilie, was the mistress of Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
from 1733 until 1737. The de Breteuil family owned the chateau until 1739, when it was sold to Louis François de Gallifet. The de Bretueil family probably constructed the east wing of the building, which carries their coat of arms.
After 1739, the estate passed to a long series of owners. Shortly after the Revolution, it was owned by two prominent manufacturers of weapons for the army of Napoleon. In 1852, it was purchased by Victor and Antoine Luzarche. They and their descendants owned the house through the rest of the nineteenth and early 20th century.
The granddaughter of Antoine Luzarche, Marthe, married George Hersent, a civil engineer and owner of a large firm which built canals and ports, and inherited the chateau in 1925. When she died, she left the house and park to the city of Tours.
The Interior
The Chateau is furnished as it was when occupied by the Luzarche family and George Hersant and his wife, between 1850 and 1953, when it opened to the public.On the ground floor, The small dining room has a buffet from the 18th century, and a collection of 18th century still life paintings. The Salle des Gardes contains a large collection of hunting trophies from Roger Luzarche d'Azay, including an enormous stuffed crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
. from his hunting trips to Africa in the late nineteenth century.
The grand stairway to the first floor has an inscription on the wall noting that it was built by Jacques de Crevant, Baron of Preuilly, in 1638. The Salon Empire on the first floor has a notable collection of furniture and art from the period of the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
collected by Gregoire Michel, a Paris banker and the owner of the house from 1803 to 1852. The bedroom of Madame Hersent has a notable Empire bed and furniture, and botanical painting by Jean-François Garneray (1775–1837). The Salon Resturation has a magnificent parquet floor in the form of a rose, taken from the private mansion in Versailes. The room was the bedroom of George Hersent.
The Salle Cassas features a gallery of drawings made by Louis-François Cassas
Louis-François Cassas
Louis-François Cassas, born to a poor family on June 3, 1756, was a distinguished French landscape painter, sculptor, architect, archeologist and antiquary born at Azay-le-Ferron, in the Indre Department of France...
(1756–1827), who was born in the chateau, the godson of the Marquis de Gallifet, the owner at the time. From 1784 onwards, Cassas was in the company of the Count of Choiseul-Gouffier, the French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. He traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire and made drawings of the monuments of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. In 1816 he became the inspector of the royal manufactury of tapesestries of Gobelins
Gobelins manufactory
The Manufacture des Gobelins is a tapestry factory located in Paris, France, at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near the Les Gobelins métro station in the XIIIe arrondissement...
. , which represents the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
.
The library features a large sixteenth century tapestry, "L'Enlevement des Sabines," from either Flanders or Paris, and the painting "L'Allegorie de la Paix, from 1641, by the Dutch artist Hendrick Martensz Sorgh (1611–1670).
The bedroom of Madame Luzarche d'Azay is furnished in the Louis XVI style, with the original pink striped wallpaper from the period.
The largest and most impressive room of the house, the Grand Salon, is located on the second floor. Its main features are an early 17th century painted ceiling, brought from the same house in Versailles as the parquet floor of the Salon Restauration; and richly decorated chests and cabinets from the Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
period. It displays three paintings by the Genoese artist Antonio Lagorio (1652–1690), and a painting of the Virgin and the Child by Simon François de Tours (1606–1671), believed to be an allegory about the birth of a child to Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
, the Regent of Louis XIV..
The large dining room, also on the second floor, has fine wood panelling from the 1930s, a marble fountain from Languedoc, a large Baccarat
Baccarat
Baccarat is a card game, played at casinos and by gamblers. It is believed to have been introduced into France from Italy during the reign of King Charles VIII , and it is similar to Faro and Basset...
crystal chandelier, and Aubusson
Aubusson, Creuse
Aubusson is a commune in the Creuse department in the Limousin region in central France.-Geography:...
tapestries representing Louis XV hunting.
The Salle Voltaire, furnished in the 18th century, recalls the romantic relationship between Voltaire and the daughter of Nicholas-Louis Le Tonnelier de Bretieul, owner of the chateau.
The Salon de la Tour, on the lower level of the tower, the oldest part of the chateau, displays French Regency period commodes and portraits of the early owners of the chateau.
Park and Gardens
The original park was created in the 17th century, and had an area of fifty hectares, 10 hectares in a landscape park and the rest called a "parc agricole," probably for raising fruits and vegetables. A few of the alignments of the early garden exist, and are carefully preserved.In 1856 Antoine Luzarche commissioned the Buhler Brothers, landscape architects, to create a French landscape garden
French landscape garden
The French landscape garden is a style of garden inspired by idealized Italian landscapes and the romantic paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, European ideas about Chinese gardens, and the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau...
, with perspectives, alleys and bosquets of trees, covering an area of eighteen hectares. The new park included an arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
of exotic trees, including Sequoia
Sequoiadendron
Sequoiadendron giganteum is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae, together with Sequoia sempervirens and...
trees from California.
Beginning in 1920, Georges Hersent added a classical Garden à la française, with broderies and topiary
Topiary
Topiary is the horticultural practice of training live perennial plants, by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, perhaps geometric or fanciful; and the term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way. It can be...
, near the house, integrated with the architecture.
In 1995, the François Rabelais University
François Rabelais University
François Rabelais University or University of Tours, is a public university in Tours, France. The university is named after the French writer François Rabelais, and was founded in 1969.-Organisation:...
in Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
created an orchard of pear
Pear
The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....
and apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
trees in one part of the park. In 1999, fruit trees on traditional espaliers were grown against the walls, along with table grapes from forty varieties. In 2003, a rose garden with 168 rosebushes of 56 varieties was added to the garden. In 2008 a path was added that traced the history of the rose from Roman times to the present..