Villandry Castle (France)

The Château de Villandry is one of the Loire Castles. With its Renaissance architecture, this castle was built in Indre-et-Loire in the sixteenth, and experienced great work until the eighteenth century. This is the newest of the great castles of the Loire Valley. It has indeed been completed in the Renaissance, at the initiative of Finance Minister François 1, Jean le Breton.

Subsequently, the following generations have held until 1754. It was then sold to Castellane Angel Count Louis-Henri d'Aubigné. Located 15 km west of Tours, he is the current ownership Henri Carvallo and two of his sisters.

The gardens of Villandry

Renaissance, the gardens have changed considerably following the purchase of the castle by the Spanish, Joachim Carvallo, in 1906. Indeed, it has rehabilitated gardens wherever Chateau de Villandry. First, he gave up his career in science to devote himself completely to the castle. Joachim Carvallo was also the founder of the first French association of private defense monumental heritage, which he founded in 1924. After grouped with chateaux owners, it was then the first to open his field to the public.

Jardins-castle Villandry

Joachim Carvallo considers that the castle should be in line with its majestic gardens. For this, the scientist he was, will follow its approach to redevelop the entire portfolio. His heirs have maintained the rigor and motivation of their ancestor to continue to develop this beautiful area. In 2008, the garden was inaugurated the Sun since 2009 bio of the turn was completed. The garden has been awarded the remarkable garden.

The wooden castle occupies about 3 hectares, decorated in 2003 with a wooden gazebo that can be reached via a lovely path. This wood and gives a very different view of the gardens.

The ornament garden is divided into two large rooms. The first is composed of green homes. Its design was created by Lozano, a Sevillian painter, assisted by Javier Winthuysen, painter and landscaper. The second is designed as an extension between the vegetable garden and the garden of water, it evokes symbolically.

The hearing was arranged in the eighteenth century, neoclassical and covered with a slate roof. the time of the Marquis, Marquis de Castellane, it gave "the hearing" to farmers and peasants who maintained his land. It has been renovated completely back nearly 10 years.

The water garden dates from the early twentieth century. Two centuries ago, a first sheet of water was created when processing Villandry gardens "French garden". Joachim Carvallo was later restored the water mirror to give it his regular appearance we know today.


The Château de Villandry has a maze, the latter being located on the second terrace. The labyrinth of the Renaissance is not a place where people are lost but rather a place of progression representing the journey of life. So there is a Christian meaning.

Present on the old meadow surrounded by lime trees, the garden of the Sun is located on the highest terrace of the castle. In the early twentieth century, for ten years, Joachim Carvallo has committed significant modifications to the Chateau de Villandry can regain its Renaissance gardens.

Finally, the decorative vegetable garden, it is the highlight of the gardens. Consists of nine squares of identical dimensions, this Renaissance-style space consists of vegetables, flowers, the result giving the eye the illusion of a multicolored checkerboard.