Rigny-Ussé: Château d'Ussé, morning light
View of the Château d'Ussé, in the commune of Rigny-Ussé (in the département of Indre-et-Loire, located in the Centre-Val de Loire region in central France), as the sun begins to shine on it on a clear morning in mid-October (2016).
Located on the left (south) bank of the Indre a little upriver from its confluence with the Loire, it is between the river and a bluff on the edge of the Forêt de Chinon, a bit of which can be seen behind and above the buildings.
A castle on this site was first constructed in wood in the early 11th century by Guelduin Ier de Saumur (also spelled Gelduin or Gilduin). Fortification in stone followed, but it fell into disuse. The château was rebuilt, beginning in the 1440s by Jean V de Bueil, sieur d'Ussé, and, after the property changed hands multiple times, updated and expanded during the 16th and 17th centuries. The result is a mixture of late Gothic and Renaissance architecture, complemented by gardens of a design attributed to André Le Nôtre. Further work was done during the 19th century.
Today, the privately owned Château d'Ussé is open to the public. It is classified as one of the Châteaux de la Loire and is within the Vallée de la Loire UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We stopped in the car park for the sake of the light, when the château was not yet open for the day -- so we shall have to return another time to visit the buildings and gardens.
(Information from the Château d'Ussé website, Mérimée (reference number PA00098034) -- an architectural heritage database of the Ministère de la culture -- and the French-language Wikipedia, all last consulted 4 October 2020, as well as the Michelin Châteaux of the Loire Green Guide (Watford, Herts., UK: Michelin Travel Partner, 2015 printing). Jean de Bueil's dates and highest title from US Library of Congress "authority record" n 95081736.)
[Rigny-Ussé Château d'Ussé light morning 2016 oct 11 f; DSCF0345]
Rigny-Ussé: Château d'Ussé, morning light
View of the Château d'Ussé, in the commune of Rigny-Ussé (in the département of Indre-et-Loire, located in the Centre-Val de Loire region in central France), as the sun begins to shine on it on a clear morning in mid-October (2016).
Located on the left (south) bank of the Indre a little upriver from its confluence with the Loire, it is between the river and a bluff on the edge of the Forêt de Chinon, a bit of which can be seen behind and above the buildings.
A castle on this site was first constructed in wood in the early 11th century by Guelduin Ier de Saumur (also spelled Gelduin or Gilduin). Fortification in stone followed, but it fell into disuse. The château was rebuilt, beginning in the 1440s by Jean V de Bueil, sieur d'Ussé, and, after the property changed hands multiple times, updated and expanded during the 16th and 17th centuries. The result is a mixture of late Gothic and Renaissance architecture, complemented by gardens of a design attributed to André Le Nôtre. Further work was done during the 19th century.
Today, the privately owned Château d'Ussé is open to the public. It is classified as one of the Châteaux de la Loire and is within the Vallée de la Loire UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We stopped in the car park for the sake of the light, when the château was not yet open for the day -- so we shall have to return another time to visit the buildings and gardens.
(Information from the Château d'Ussé website, Mérimée (reference number PA00098034) -- an architectural heritage database of the Ministère de la culture -- and the French-language Wikipedia, all last consulted 4 October 2020, as well as the Michelin Châteaux of the Loire Green Guide (Watford, Herts., UK: Michelin Travel Partner, 2015 printing). Jean de Bueil's dates and highest title from US Library of Congress "authority record" n 95081736.)
[Rigny-Ussé Château d'Ussé light morning 2016 oct 11 f; DSCF0345]