Chenonceau: The Château Built Across the Cher
Centre-Val de Loire, France
Badge Unlock
Château de Chenonceau
Complete this challenge to add this badge to your collection.
250
XP
+100 France
= 350 total
1 day
Chenonceau: The Château Built Across the Cher
250 + 100 XP
Thomas Bohier bought the site in 1513, and the house on the river was built between 1513 and 1521 largely under the direction of his wife Katherine Briconnet while he was away; Francis I took it in settlement of Bohier's debts to the Crown in 1535, and Henry II gave it to his mistress Diane de Poitiers, who had the bridge thrown across the Cher between 1556 and 1559. When Henry died in 1559 his widow Catherine de' Medici forced Diane to swap it for Chaumont, made it her favourite residence and built the two-storey gallery on Diane's bridge — 60 m long, 6 m wide and eighteen windows — which carries the house across the whole river. In the 18th century Louise Dupin kept a salon here with Voltaire, Montesquieu and Buffon, and Rousseau was her secretary. In the First World War Gaston Menier ran a military hospital in the galleries that treated 2,254 wounded soldiers, and from 1940 to 1942 the building straddled the demarcation line, with one side in occupied France and the other in the free zone.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Walk the 60 m of Catherine de' Medici's gallery from bank to bank, counting the eighteen windows, and notice how narrow it is — six metres, the width of Diane de Poitiers's bridge underneath it
2
of 5
Find both gardens on the entrance side and judge which woman won: Diane de Poitiers's, the larger, laid out beside the bridge she built between 1556 and 1559, against Catherine de' Medici's, facing the gallery she raised on top of that bridge after taking the house from her
3
of 5
Stand in both galleries and work out where the 120 hospital beds went from 2 August 1914 — seventy on the first floor, fifty on the ground floor with the operating theatre — and look for Charles Toche's frescoes, which the army had painted over in white because it thought white was more hygienic
4
of 5
Walk the first-floor gallery again knowing it crossed the demarcation line from 1940 to 1942, and find the door at the far end that the Resistance used to put people into the free zone
5
of 5
Look at the château from the riverbank to see the arches across the Cher
Walk the 60 m of Catherine de' Medici's gallery from bank to bank, counting the eighteen windows, and notice how narrow it is — six metres, the width of Diane de Poitiers's bridge underneath it
Find both gardens on the entrance side and judge which woman won: Diane de Poitiers's, the larger, laid out beside the bridge she built between 1556 and 1559, against Catherine de' Medici's, facing the gallery she raised on top of that bridge after taking the house from her
Stand in both galleries and work out where the 120 hospital beds went from 2 August 1914 — seventy on the first floor, fifty on the ground floor with the operating theatre — and look for Charles Toche's frescoes, which the army had painted over in white because it thought white was more hygienic
Walk the first-floor gallery again knowing it crossed the demarcation line from 1940 to 1942, and find the door at the far end that the Resistance used to put people into the free zone
Look at the château from the riverbank to see the arches across the Cher
Before you go
Very busy in summer — arrive early.
Very busy in summer — arrive early. Chenonceau is open every day of the year, so a winter morning is the quietest way to see the gallery; closing time moves with the season, as early as 5.30pm in midwinter.
Finding nearby campsites...
About Centre-Val de Loire
Loading region info…
Explore more about Centre-Val de Loire:
Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
350 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
Stop 2 of 5 · Amboise
The Loire Valley: Châteaux from Blois to Saumur
10 nights · 16 things to do · France, Centre-Val de Loire
Ten nights along the Loire from Blois to Saumur: Chambord's double staircase, Leonardo's last home at Amboise, Chenonceau across the Cher, the gardens of Villandry and the Plantagenet tombs at Fontevraud.
Stop 6 of 9 · Amboise and Chenonceau
South to the Loire Châteaux from Cherbourg
13 nights · 25 things to do · France, Centre-Val de Loire
Thirteen nights in a loop from Cherbourg south to the Loire: Mont-Saint-Michel and Rennes, the Apocalypse Tapestry at Angers, Chinon, Chenonceau and Chambord, then home by Le Mans and William the Conqueror's Falaise and Caen.
More challenges nearby
within 100km
Clos Lucé: Where Leonardo Spent His Last Three Years
France · Centre-Val de Loire
cultural
easy
1d
11 km away
Amboise: The Royal Château and Leonardo's Tomb
France · Centre-Val de Loire
history
easy
1d
12 km away
Chaumont-sur-Loire: The Château Diane Was Forced to Take
France · Centre-Val de Loire
cultural
easy
1d
19 km away
Montrésor: Fulk Nerra's Rock and the Polish Count's Château
France · Centre-Val de Loire
history
easy
1d
21 km away
ZooParc de Beauval: Pandas, the Equatorial Dome and the Masters of the Air
France · Centre-Val de Loire
wildlife
easy
2d
23 km away
Loches: Fulk Nerra's Keep, Agnès Sorel's Tomb and the Royal Lodge
France · Centre-Val de Loire
history
easy
1d
23 km away