Loire Valley Castles, Chambord Castle

The royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher in France is one of the most recognizable Château in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture that blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Italian structures.

It was constructed by King François I in part to be near to his mistress the Comtesse de Thoury, a member of a very important family of France. Her arms figure in the carved decor of the château.

Chambord is the largest castle in the Loire Valley, but was built to serve only as a hunting lodge for François I, who maintained his royal residences at Château de Blois. There are 440 rooms in the castle!!

The original design of the Château de Chambord is attributed, though with several doubts, to Domenico da Cortona. Some authors, though, claim that the French Renaissance architect Philibert Delorme had a considerable role in the Château's design.

The castle became the property of the Government of France in 1930, but restoration work was not begun until a few years after World War II ended in 1945. Today, Chambord is a major tourist attraction.

In a small aside, an image of the Château de Chambord is used in the Microsoft Windows computer operating system as one of the standard wallpaper selections!!