The Château de Candé of Monts, part II !!!

Posted in Europe, France

I am coming back at you with this wonderful castle as found me new pictures in my cd rom vaults that should be in my blog for you and me. These are all firsts amazing abundance of marvelous places to see in my belle France. I took off early into Monts to see the Château de Candé, and I was finally able to see the inside. The Château de Candé is a Louis XII style castle, located in the village of Monts, in the department of Indre-et-Loire 37 in the Centre-Val de Loire region of my belle France, Therefore, here is my take again on the Château de Candé of Monts, part II !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The village of Monts is 10 km from Tours on the banks of the Indre river , in the heart of a 260-hectare estate. The town of Monts is located 20 km from Tours, 24 km from Langeais, 47 km from Amboise, 243 km from Versailles, and 341 km from my current home.from where I came here on the N165 to Nantes here taking the A11 dir Tours/Paris but connecting with the A85 dir Tours get off at exit 9 on the D751 dir Tours but get off at exit/sortie 10 to take the D8 road cross underneath the A85 autoroute and take a left on Route de la Billette in Antannes sur Indre continue to connect with the D86 Route de Monts at trafic circle take a right into Rue des Noisetiers which is the D87 road and see panel for the Château de Candé, For further info on getting here from Paris, the A10 autoroute at exit/sortie 24.1, dir Sorigny-Montbazon / Sorigny-Monts, The REMI bus network serves the town of Monts via line I/ Tours-Saché. Get off at the “La Horaie” arrêt/stop, at the foot of the castle. A TER SNCF train line serves Monts train station from the city of Tours. You can then take the Touraine “Fil vert” bus, line I/ Tours-Saché and get off at the “La Horaie” stop, at the foot of the castle, or walk about 25 minutes.

The architecture of the Château de Candé bears witness to the various stages of its construction and its remodeling, with the preservation, even in the most recent modifications, of a neo-Gothic style. Nothing remains of the constructions that preceded the Renaissance. The pavilion is a square-plan building with a dozen rooms, provided in the middle of its eastern facade with a pentagonal turret providing access to the upper floors. In its upper part, the plan of this turret changes to become square with the construction of two round towers provided at their top with fancy battlements. These similar towers, in the troubadour style, are connected at their base by a terrace on the same level as the ground floor, and closed by a balustrade. On the east side, a pentagonal vestibule is attached to the facade to the south of the staircase tower and opens directly into the living room.

The interesting story here is that as a Renaissance mansion built in 1499-1500, most certainly replaces a medieval fortified house in a place called Condatum in the 10C. The castle was extended in the second half of the 19C by the wealthy Anglo-Cuban sugar cane planter Santiago Drake del Castillo ! (born in Havana, Cuba, in 1805) and his son Jacques.  In a more ambitious project, Drake del Castillo added the north wing and its keep in the neo-Gothic style and thus tripled the living area. A chapel dedicated to Saint Clare in homage to Charlotte Claire Spitz, Santiago’s second wife, was built in the park, flanked by a building housing a girls’ school ; this school, once closed and refurbished, served as accommodation to the director of the gunpowder factory and another in which a hospice is installed. All these works took place between 1864 and 1867 In February and March 1871, several rooms of the castle were occupied by Prussian officers while the stables were requisitioned to house their horses. Jacques Drake del Castillo, eldest son of Santiago, notably developed the culture of the vine there by adopting modern cultivation and winemaking methods which earned him awards in the agricultural competitions ; Art lover, he owns in Candé and in his Parisian hotel several paintings by Claude Monet, of whom he was a friend, and Edgar Degas, he organized, in 1899 , and for Touraine, the ceremonies of the centenary of the birth of Honoré de Balzac. The meal that closes these celebrations takes place at the Château de Candé.

Jean Drake del Castillo is the son of Jacques, who takes over the reins of the estate after his defeat in the municipal elections of 1925, he leaves Candé definitively and settles in Cannes where he frequents artistic and social circles, befriending Gary Cooper and Raimu, In 1927, Charles Bedaux, a wealthy Franco-American industrialist, and his American wife, Fern, bought the castle from Jean Drake del Castillo, who was forced by serious financial problems following the risky management of his heritage. to gradually sell all of his properties, Candé being the last from which he separates See more in part I.

The official Domaine de Candé : https://domainecande.fr/?lang=en

The local Loire valley tourist office on Candé:  thttps://www.loirevalley-france.co.uk/organise-your-stay/visits/chateaux/domaine-de-cande

The town of Monts and its heritage :  https://monts.fr/fr/rb/487710/patrimoine-37

There you go folks, this is what road warrior trips in my belle France are all about, finally it hit you, missing on a property but as said, I will be back, the story seems too interesting to let it go for just an introduction. The Château de Candé is unique and worth the detour me think. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Château de Candé of Monts, part II !!! as I

And remember, happy travels, good health,and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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