Located 10 kilometers south of Blois, Château de Cheverny is the most magnificently furnished of the Loire castles, and one of the most beautiful architectural achievements of the Louis XIII style. It remains today one of the rare castles of the Loire to belong to the same family since the XVIIth century. The fortress, which has belonged to the Hurault family since its origins, opened to the public in 1922. The current heirs, the Marquis and the Marquise de Vibraye occupy the right wing. Hergé, famous creator of the Tintin comic strip, was largely inspired by Cheverny to give life to Moulinsart, the residence of Captain Haddock.
History of Cheverny Castle
History goes back to the Hurault line. Jean Hurault, bourgeois of the city of Blois bought the land at the end of the fourteenth century. Several generations succeeded each other and built a fortified residence with turrets, drawbridges, ditches... Debts forced the family to part with the castle by selling it to Diane de Poitiers , favorite of King Henry II. The latter owned it from 1551 to 1565 until she sold it to the sons of Raoul Hurault:Jacques, Lord of Vibraye and Philippe, his younger brother.
Henri Hurault, son of Philippe, lord of Cheverny took the decision to destroy the fortress in order to build a new one for his second wife Marguerite Gaillard de la Morinière, daughter of a bailiff, whom he married in 1604. The construction of the castle was undertaken between 1624 and 1634. The management of the site was entrusted to Jacques Bougier, and the decoration to Jean Monier. Note that the architect Jacques Bougier dit Boyer de Blois, also used his talent for the castles of Blois and Chambord. The masters of the place died before completing the work, it was their daughter Elisabeth who finished the interior decoration through the carpenter Hevras Hammerber. The Château de Cheverny has belonged to the Vibraye family for more than six centuries.
As for the architecture, we can observe that the south facade (first photo), is decorated with Roman busts carved in the antique style, a style very popular during the Renaissance. Its large two-storey domed pavilions were novelties for the time. The house is built from Bourré stone which has the particularity of whitening and hardening over time. In addition, the estate has a magnificent park and an orangery.
Prestigious apartments and living rooms
The castle contains sumptuous family collections passed down over the years. The layout of the apartments is quite faithful to what Count Henri Hurault and his family had imagined.
As you climb the main staircase, you will see the private apartments including the birth room, a small red boudoir, the bridal room, the dining room or even a child's room. The latter contains the first models of wooden horses from the Napoleon III period.
The King's Chamber has a coffered ceiling whose story represents the mythology of Perseus and Andromeda. You will have the opportunity to contemplate the tapestries made around 1640, by the Ateliers de Paris. The canopy bed is covered with Persian embroidery. It measures 2 meters by 1.60 meters and people slept in it sitting down because the lying position was intended for the deceased.
The army room , which is the largest room in the castle, contains armor and a very fine collection of weapons. You will be able to see a small piece of armor that was used by the Count of Chambord when he was 4 years old, as well as many travel chests from the 17 th century. One of the trunks bearing the arms of France and Navarre would have belonged to Henri IV (1553-1610).
On the ground floor you will find the Large living room , the salon of portraits and tapestries as well as the library. The portrait room highlights the ancestors of the family but also the landscapes of Hubert Robert. The library reveals an Empire style desk stamped Jacob , great cabinetmaker of Napoleon 1 st . It is worth remembering that the stamp was compulsory from 1741 in order to protect French craftsmen from foreign competition.
Cheverny or Moulinsart?
It seems essential to draw a parallel between the Château de Cheverny and the residence of Captain Haddock imagined by Hergé (1907-1983). Indeed, Hergé was inspired by the castle by lightening it with its two wings to design Moulinsart. In 1942, with The Secret of the Unicorn, he creates an adventure featuring the ancestor of Captain Haddock:the Chevalier François de Hadoque. Fictional character, the latter would have been commander of the Unicorn, ship of the navy of Louis XIV and would have thus received the castle as a reward for his loyal services. The house will have an important place in the next albums. You should know that Moulinsart is the reverse toponym of the name of a small Belgian town called Sart-Moulin. The permanent exhibition dedicated to Tintin takes us back to his fabulous adventures. You can visit the famous reporter's room, Professor Tournesol's laboratory, the Tournesol affair lounge, the shark-shaped submarine and a TV room telling the story of this castle. fictitious.
Throughout the visit, you will observe references to the albums that saw the birth of Moulinsart:Le secret de la Licorne and the Red Rackham's Treasure . In these adventures, Captain Haddock learns that Moulinsart is the castle of his ancestors. Remember, in The Secret of the Unicorn Tintin is taken prisoner in a room of the castle by the men of Monsieur Loiseau. He erects a ram with a beam and a rope, breaks the brick wall and finds himself in a room filled with armor and objects of all kinds. You will have the pleasure of seeing this scene reconstructed during the exhibition (visual opposite). It is during these adventures that the reader meets Nestor for the first time, who will become the captain's faithful butler.
Access to Cheverny Castle
Open every day of the year
Avenue Château - 41700 Cheverny - Telephone:02 54 79 96 29
Hours:9:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. without interruption
To go further
- Cheverny Castle Website
- The Château de Cheverny, by Christophe Morin. Artelia, 2016.