We have driven in the area and stop by finally, and a great surprise indeed, This is the nice City of Vendôme in the Loir et Cher dept 41 of the Centre Val de Loire region of my belleFrance, There is so much to see , and did see more for you and me, So close by it many times and finally in ,a great surprise, nice town indeed! Therefore, here is my take on the Château de Vendôme of Vendôme !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.
The City of Vendôme is located 36 km from Blois from where we were coming on the road D957,around City on the N10 to City center following signs for Rochembeau parking, The City is 89 km from Loches where we were first, and 359 km from our current home on the D357 short on the A28/A11 then on the A81 to N157 dir Rennes and past the rocade on the N24 going home on the D768.
The Château de Vendôme acces by the Rue du Château is an ancient fortified castle, now in ruins, whose remains stand in the town of Vendôme. The first fortified point in the 11C is a quadrangular keep located at the north-western tip of the rocky promontory. The medieval enclosure, the walls of which are still partly visible, dates from the 12C. This large enclosure is flanked by a tower at the passage of the 13C which crowns the hill is 170 meters long and 100 meters wide. The site is closed to the west by a valley which the road to the climb the towers. On the plateau side, the place is isolated by a deep ditch in the shape of an arc which goes around it. The tower of Poitiers, the main tower, still dominates by its size this old system, reinforced in the 14C. It was equipped with a dungeon in the 15C. Lodgings ran along the north front, the few remains make a precise dating difficult but we can assume that these were built between the end of the 14C and the end of the 15C when the castle became the possession of the Bourbon-Vendôme.
The Captaincy building located at the north-west tip of the castle, it is the location of the original keep, which has now disappeared and of which few remains remain. Below, Rue Ferme is the former bailey of the castle, a sort of security corridor controlled by fortified gates. The residences on the street are mostly former houses of the canons of the castle’s collegiate church. The castle has underground passages probably dating from the 15C. The town was established at its feet, in the bend of the Loir, around the Abbey of the Trinity, The panoramic view of the city is the highlight of the castle ruins park. In a pleasure garden with winding paths, perennial plants bloom throughout the seasons. In summer, photographic exhibitions are presented in the park.
The oldest mention of the existence of a fortified place in Vendôme is found in the Treaty of Andelot of 587. Although in the 10C Vendôme was governed by the powerful Count Bouchard I called the Venerable, one of the most faithful companions of King Hugh Capet, sources relating to the castle itself are lacking. The first traces of stone fortifications date from the 11C, on the site of the place called “captaincy”. John I fought alongside Henry Plantagenet, the future Henry II of England, and in 1170, he offered his castle for an interview between the King of France Louis VII and Henry Plantagenet, which led to a truce. In 1173, he was pitted against his eldest son Bouchard de Lavardin, who had sided with the rebellious sons of Henry II, allied for a time with the King of France. Bouchard occupied the castle of Vendôme by force and took control of the city, closing the gates to his father. John I appealed to Henry II to liberate the city and the castle. During his crusade in Palestine in 1180, Count John nevertheless made his eldest son regent of the county. Bouchard remained an ally of the King of France and in 1188 he surrendered the city to Philip II Augustus who held the English garrison prisoner without taking control of the castle.
It was from the end of the 14C and the beginning of the 15C that we began to see the first traces of civil architecture within the castle grounds. In fact, three tower-pavilions were built perpendicular to the hillside on the north face of the castle. Between the two eastern towers, a two-level main building was built under the roof. During the 15C, a new tower-pavilion was built to the east of the previous ones, connected by a new residential main building whose precise function remains to be determined. This quadrangular building, 24 meters long and 11 meters wide, was accessible via the courtyard; a monumental staircase tower was also built, connecting the old building via a corridor. This particular position is due to the presence of the chevet of the collegiate church of Saint-Georges. The lodgings on the north façade of the castle were at least partially rebuilt at the end of the 15C or the beginning of the 16C, at the instigation of Marie de Luxembourg, Countess of Vendôme, who built a large access ramp, punctuated by three monumental doors, had a new door, the Porte de Beauce built to the south of the medieval enclosure, and built a new lodging against the old entrance gate to the castle. She had the parish church of Saint-Lubin, which was cluttering up the courtyard of the castle, moved to the district of the same name. In this context, the collegiate church of Saint-Georges benefited from a restructuring: it acquired the rank of parish church for the people living in the castle, in 1626.
The Château de Vendôme was gradually abandoned. Duke Louis II of Vendôme and his son Louis-Joseph de Vendôme known as the Great Vendôme did not reside there during their reigns. The castle was put up for sale on January 5, 1791,and again put up for sale; this time it was divided into six lots, sold at auction on June 11, 1791. These various individuals set about demolishing the castle stone by stone. The destruction of the castle continued until the purchase, at the beginning of the 19C, by various owners of different parts of the castle with the aim of preserving the ruins still in place. The most notable purchase was that made by the Count of Beaumont, sub-prefect of Vendôme from 1815 to 1824, who bought the towers, ramparts and walls still standing. He immediately donated them to the city. The castle was unfortunately very damaged.
Agnes of Burgundy, wife of Geoffrey II of Anjou, Count of Vendôme since 1032, is said to have founded the collegiate church of Saint-Georges in the castle , it houses, from its foundation from the 11C until the 17C, the tombs of the counts and dukes of Vendôme, in particular those of Jean VII of Bourbon-Vendôme, Louis I of Bourbon-Vendôme, Jean VIII of Bourbon-Vendôme, as well as those of Jeanne d’Albret and Antoine de Bourbon, parents of Henri IV. The dismantling of the castle, after the French revolution, goes hand in hand with that of this Bourbon-Vendôme necropolis, already undermined by two assaults (in 1562 by the Huguenots and in 1793 by the revolutionaries. She is also credited with building the Saint-Lubin church, within the castle itself. In 1371, after the death of Count Bouchard VII and his daughter Jeanne, Catherine de Vendôme, their sister and aunt, inherited the county of Vendôme. Her marriage to Jean de Bourbon-la-Marche gave birth to the House of Bourbon-Vendôme. Among the members of this dynasty, we can note Jeanne d’Albret and Antoine de Bourbon, second Duke of Vendôme. Their son Henri, although Duke of Vendôme, King of Navarre and future King of France Henri IV, was to lay siege to his castle and the city then in the hands of the Catholic Leaguers in November 1589. Desecrated by the Protestant Huguenots in 1562 then ransacked in 1793, this church, a veritable necropolis of the Bourbon Vendôme, in the heart of their castle, is today nothing more than ruins.
The City of Vendôme on the castle : https://www.vendome.eu/dynamique/patrimoine/le-chateau-de-vendome/
The Facebook page of the Association of Friends of the Castle of Vendôme : https://www.facebook.com/chateaudevendome41#
The Vendôme tourist office on the castle : https://www.vendome-tourisme.fr/offres/parc-et-vestiges-du-chateau-de-vendome-vendome-fr-2530832/
There you go folks, a dandy area to explore and enjoy with the family, Memorable moments in my belle France, going all over in my road warrior trails brings out sublime awesome spots with nice memorable family visits of yesteryear always remember and always looking forward to be back, eventually. Again hope you enjoy the post on the Château de Vendôme of Vendôme !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 