Paris1972-Versailles2003

I take you back to this magnificent imposing fortress for a second look (see post). Again, found me some pictures not in my blog and they should, The Fortress of Chinon is a must to visit for especially its history of France and Europe. The architecture , history and just plain medieval ambiance are tops. Anyway for this road warrior , Chinon is just 3h15 with tolls or 3h45 without tolls, from my house and we will be back, eventually, Hope you enjoy the post as I.

For geographical reference at least, Chinon is located in the Indre-et-Loire department, 37 in the Centre-Val de Loire region, and in my belle France. It is 47 km from Tours, 30 km from Saumur, 80 km from Angers, 85 km from Poitiers, and 305 km from Paris, Also about 314 km (about 195 miles) from my house. We like to go on the D751 linked to Tours, which partly bypasses the city.

The Royal Fortress of Chinon constitutes a unique ensemble in Touraine. The Fortress is one of the few medieval fortified castles in the Loire Valley. Its history is associated with famous figures: Henri II Plantagenêt, Jacques de Molay, Charles VII, Joan of Arc, Prosper Mérimée, etc. During your visit, you will discover buildings and towers from all eras: of the mill, dog tower, Coudray tower, Boissy tower, Argenton tower, clock tower, treasury tower, royal residences, palace of King Henry II Plantagenêt.,etc

It was in the 10C that a castle was built by Henri II Plantagenêt, count of Anjou and king of England in 1154. The latter will also give this place its current silhouette by building a new palace on the Fort Saint George. At the beginning of the 14C, the fortress was at the center of an important event. Indeed, the Grand Master Jacques de Molay and other high dignitaries of the Order of the Templars were imprisoned there, then tried and burned.

You must enjoy the magnificent views of the medieval city, the vineyards of Chinonais and the Vienne valley !! Both imposing and admirable, this fortress is positioned in a very strategic way, allowing it to control the passages over the Vienne river, and the city located below. A privileged place for diplomatic meetings and military strategy, Chinon has a rich history that you will enjoy discovering during your visit,

My favorite story here goes as Jeanne D’Arc, indeed, arrived in Chinon on February 23, 1429 after 470 km covered in 11 days on her horse. There were two interviews in Chinon, the first in the bedroom of King Charles VII, two days after Joan of Arc’s arrival in Chinon. It was subsequently housed in the keep of Coudray. After an assembly of women chaired by the Queen of Sicily verified the virginity of the Maid of Orleans. She is sent to Poitiers by the King so that specialists can judge her good faith. Once the procedure is over, King Charles VII receives her again at the Royal Fortress of Chinon. It is within this that Joan of Arc made the promise to lead the king to the coronation, and victory!

After a difficult period, the Royal Fortress of Chinon was handed over free of charge to the regional General Council. The latter launched an unprecedented restoration project on the European continent. The goal is to restore the fortress to its beauty and splendour. And they did, again , a must to visit,

The official Château fortress of Chinon :https://www.forteressechinon.fr/en/

The City of Chinon on its heritage :https://www.ville-chinon.com/loisirs/tourisme-et-patrimoine/decouvrir-ma-ville/patrimoine-a-decouvrir

The Touraine Val de Loire tourist office on the fortress of Chinon: https://www.touraineloirevalley.co.uk/cultural-heritage/royal-fortress-of-chinon-chinon/

Here is more from the Assoc of castles of the Loire on the Castle of Chinon :https://www.leschateauxdelaloire.org/en/members/forteresse-royale-de-chinon/

There you go folks , a wonderful old fortress castle that is still imposing  and pretty in gorgeous Chinon. This is a must and worth the detour indeed. Again, hope you enjoy it as I, And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

I like to redo update these wonderful monuments in lovely Chinon, Let me tell you about the Church Saint Maurice of Chinon. The church is a marvel of architecture , history and know them is plenty for this road warrior traveler. Chinon is located in the Indre-et-Loire department, 37 in the Centre-Val de Loire region. 47 km from Tours, 30 km from Saumur, 80 km from Angers, 85 km from Poitiers, and 305 km from Paris, Also about 314 km (about 195 miles) from my house. We like to go on the D751 linked to Tours, which partly bypasses the city.

There are so many monuments in Chinon, and of course, plenty of churches; I will pick some as my historically incline favorites. Let me tell you a bit about them, and hope you enjoy the tour. We took a ride by car as hilly roads and my Dad Elio on wheelchair would have been difficult if impossible. We stop each time we reach a church !

The Church  Saint-Maurice de Chinon is in the department of Indre-et-Loire.no. 37 of the Centre Val de Loire region of my belle France. The church is located along rue Haute-Saint-Maurice, on a terrace below it, below the Château de Chinon. It is located at Pl Saint Maurice and was rebuilt in the 12C ; gradually enlarged until the 16C. The lower nave was added in 1543. Romanesque bell tower. Gothic, Angevin style nave and choir, Renaissance aisle. Rich carved decoration inside. You can admire the figurative nice 19C stained-glass windows and from the 1950s in the aisle. It was built under Henry II of Plantagenets who later became King of England.

The Church Saint Maurice was built replacing a 10C church. From the end of the 12C, it was extended by a choir and a chapel was added to the north. In the 15C the spire of the bell tower was built and it was to the south that a chapel was built and finally, a century later, an aisle was added along the south side of the nave. The nave, which retains some remains of the 10C church in its northern wall, is made up of three equal bays on a square plan. Its architecture with very domed vaults is characteristic of the so-called Western Gothic style and contrasts with the more complex style of its southern aisle. The bell tower,of the 12C nave, is supported at its base by strong buttresses. Each of its faces is lit by two floors of twin bays, except to the west where they are walled up.

The original stained glass windows, destroyed by Nazis bombardments on the bridge over the Vienna river on August 29, 1944, are replaced by modern glazing. The church houses a statue of Joan of Arc, in 1900, representing a modest young woman, far from the representations of the flamboyant warrior. The Saint-Maurice Church must be the subject of a major restoration project. A project on hold for lack of funding,sadly.

The Parish of Chinon on the Saint Maurice Church: https://www.paroisse-chinon.fr/eglise-saint-maurice-37500-chinon.html

The City of Chinon and its heritage :https://www.ville-chinon.com/loisirs/tourisme-et-patrimoine/decouvrir-ma-ville/patrimoine-a-decouvrir

There you go folks, the nice historical and architecture of the Church of Saint Maurice of Chinon. This is wonderful ,splendid Chinon, a must to visit me think. We will be back for more soon. Again, hope you enjoy the post as I. And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

I like to redo update these wonderful monuments in lovely Chinon, Let me tell you about the Saint Radegonde chapel of Chinon. The chapel is a marvel of architecture , history and know them is plenty for this road warrior traveler. Chinon is located in the Indre-et-Loire department, 37 in the Centre-Val de Loire region. 47 km from Tours, 30 km from Saumur, 80 km from Angers, 85 km from Poitiers, and 305 km from Paris, Also about 314 km (about 195 miles) from my house. We like to go on the D751 linked to Tours, which partly bypasses the city.

There are so many monuments in Chinon, and of course, plenty of churches; I will pick some as my historically incline favorites. Let me tell you a bit about them, and hope you enjoy the tour. We took a ride by car as hilly roads and my Dad Elio on wheelchair would have been difficult if impossible. We stop each time we reach a church !

The Sainte-Radegonde chapel is a former oratory converted into a chapel on the hillside of Sainte-Radegonde, east of the historic town center of Chinon, in the department of Indre-et-Loire no 37 in the Centre-Val de Loire region of my belle France. The chapel owes its name to Radegonde de Poitiers, who is said to have met the hermit Jean Reclus there on several occasions. The chapel, disused, was sold as national property during the French revolution.

The Sainte Radegonde chapel is served by rue du Pitoche and rue du Coteau de Sainte-Radegonde, which rise gradually eastward up the hillside from the collegiate church of Saint-Mexme (see post)  , just over 600 meters away from the chapel. According to the tradition reported by Gregory of Tours, the site was indeed Christianized in the 6C, perhaps around 530, when John the Recluse, a hermit from the British Isles also called the priest John, came to settle in a cave after having frequented the religious of Saint-Mexme for a time.  The hermit John acquires, according to the chronicles, a great reputation for wisdom; he was even consulted by Saint Radegonde who stopped in Chinon to visit him on several occasions, notably when she went to Poitiers to found the abbey of Sainte-Croix de Poitiers (see post)  which explains the dedication of the chapel. Tradition reports that the oratory became, upon John’s death, a place of burial for other hermits who followed his example and retired to the same place. Among the burials found in the floor of the southern nave, those which could be dated with certainty, however, date back to the end of the Middle Ages and are characterized by the presence of cephalic cells intended to hold the head of the deceased, an arrangement which was developing at that time.

Sainte-Radegonde chapel takes its modern configuration in the 11-12C. A nave is dug directly into the rock, and consolidated by two monolithic columns when its vault is raised ,perhaps at the end of the 12C or the beginning of the 13C, its vault partially collapses and the building is no longer able to accommodate the many faithful and pilgrims. A second nave was then built, covered with a frame and a single-pitched roof, which disappeared during the revolutionary period: this space has since been transformed into garden ; a medieval colonnade and a modern grille separate it from the troglodyte nave, The chapel was looted in 1563 during the religious wars, the graves were desecrated and the relics of Saint John destroyed; Twenty years later, it was used as accommodation for caregivers and families of patients with an epidemic of plague or typhoid fever which was then raging in Touraine. It was restored in the 17C: around 1643, during the time of Canon Louis Breton who lived in the presbytery, a troglodyte built near the chapel, a new altar was inaugurated in the southern apse and a new cycle of painting, telling the story of Sainte Radegonde and whose scenes are accompanied by a caption made on the walls and the vault ,

During the clearing, cleaning and repair work that was carried out from 1960, it was discovered in 1964 the painting of the chasse royale or royal hunt , hidden under several layers of whitewash in the 19C. After having been used as a dwelling in the same way as the adjoining caves and known to several successive owners, it has belonged to the town of Chinon since 1957. The museum of arts and popular traditions of Chinonais (see post)  has been housed there since 1966. Today, the chapel is open to the public in summer and on the occasion of European Heritage Days.(see post).

The City of Chinon and its heritage : https://www.ville-chinon.com/loisirs/tourisme-et-patrimoine/decouvrir-ma-ville/patrimoine-a-decouvrir

The Touraine Loire Valley tourist office on the Chapel : https://www.touraineloirevalley.co.uk/cultural-heritage/sainte-radegonde-chapel-chinon/

There you go folks, the nice historical and architecture of the Sainte Radegonde chapel of Chinon. This is wonderful ,splendid Chinon, a must to visit me think. We will be back for more soon. Again, hope you enjoy the post as I. And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

I like to redo update these wonderful monuments in lovely Chinon, Let me tell you about the former church Saint Mexme of Chinon. The church is a marvel of architecture , history and know them is plenty for this road warrior traveler. Chinon is located in the Indre-et-Loire department, 37 in the Centre-Val de Loire region. 47 km from Tours, 30 km from Saumur, 80 km from Angers, 85 km from Poitiers, and 305 km from Paris, Also about 314 km (about 195 miles) from my house. We like to go on the D751 linked to Tours, which partly bypasses the city.

There are so many monuments in Chinon, and of course, plenty of churches; I will pick some as my historically incline favorites. Let me tell you a bit about them, and hope you enjoy the tour. We took a ride by car as hilly roads and my Dad Elio on wheelchair would have been difficult if impossible. We stop each time we reach a church !

The story goes that Grégoire de Tours, recounted the installation in the 5C of Mexme or Maxime disciple of Saint Martin, in a troglodyte hermitage in Chinon, east of the Roman castrum which will become the current castle, Saint Mexme would have founded a first church there, which serves center to a small monastery, transformed into a collegiate around the year 1000. The church was then rebuilt on a basilica plan, then enlarged from 1050 by the addition of a western massif comprising a narthex framed by two towers. In the 12C, the nave was extended to the west, a transept and a choir with an ambulatory and radiating chapels completed the transformation of the collegiate church into a vast pilgrimage building. A canonical quarter was built to the south of which some houses, as in rue Hoche, are still present.

Preserved in its entirety, the nave of the year 1000, built in a medium structure, has two levels of elevation: on the ground floor large semicircular arcades, on the upper level high windows also semicircular, underlined by a billet cord. Inside, the nave has always been framed. It is now covered with a false wooden vault dating from the 18C. During the restoration, murals were found under the arches of the high windows and some arcades. The western massif seems to have been added shortly after the construction of the nave, around 1050. It consists of a central part on two levels: on the ground floor, a semicircular vaulted narthex, animated by arcatures on the side walls, and on the first floor a vaulted gallery, enclosed behind towards the nave by a thin wall pierced by three bays. The south tower was completely rebuilt in the 15C, while the north tower was only raised by a symmetrical bell tower at the same time. The north tower now contains a beautiful 18C staircase which connects the ground floor and the first level.

In 1983, masonry work related to the restoration site made it possible to find a Romanesque painting from the 12C in the north chapel. This painting was deposited and is now on display at the nearby Church of Saint-Étienne (see post). This is the upper part of a representation of Christ in Majesty, framed by a Greek arch. At the bottom of the 18C staircase in the north tower, there is a representation of a saint, probably Saint Nicholas, passing his hand through a window to deposit a purse inside a house whose owner is reduced to poverty was preparing to deliver its daughters to prostitution. Under several arches of the nave, on the north side, scenes from the New Testament have been painted. Under the first arch is a Last Judgment, Christ the judge is seated on a throne below which are represented two angels playing the trumpet. Opposite there is a representation of hell, very erased. Under the following arch a story featuring armed men unfolds on several registers: it is undoubtedly a massacre of the innocents. On the ground floor of the south tower, rebuilt in the 15C, there is a monumental painted cycle representing on the one hand a Last Judgment, on the other a Fountain of Life, rare iconography illustrating the death of Christ for Redemption of the world. In addition, in a niche in the west wall is a depiction of God the Father surrounded by angels. This unrestored painting in the 19C brings together the whole cycle of the school active in Tours at the end of the 15C

The former collegiate church of Saint Mexme is now a cultural center: the nave of the year 1000 has housed a small wooden theater since 2002, which hosts summer shows, while the western massif hosts temporary exhibitions.

The Touraine Loire Valley tourist office on the former church :https://www.touraineloirevalley.co.uk/cultural-heritage/saint-mexme-collegiate-church-chinon/

The City of Chinon and its heritage : https://www.ville-chinon.com/loisirs/tourisme-et-patrimoine/decouvrir-ma-ville/patrimoine-a-decouvrir

There you go folks, the nice historical and architecture of the former church of Saint Mexme of Chinon. This is wonderful ,splendid Chinon, a must to visit me think. We will be back for more soon. Again, hope you enjoy the post as I. And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!