Château de Lavardin

The Château de Lavardin is a ruined castle in the village and commune of Lavardin in the Loir-et-Cher department of France. The property of the commune, it has been classified since 1945 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

The remains of the Château de Lavardin stand on a rocky promontory, above the village and the Loir. Built starting from the beginning of the 11th century by the first lords of Lavardin, the castle was sold to the count of Vendôme around 1130, becoming his principal fortress at the end of the 12th century. Completely altered in the 14th and 15th centuries, it was taken by the members of the Catholic League in 1589, then dismantled the following year on the orders of Henri IV, duke of Vendôme and king of France.

Text adapted from “Château de Lavardin” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Château de Lavardin ranks #3,682 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #280 of the 524 mapped in France. Founded c. 1025, it is older than 91% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 325 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,521 times in the last 60 days, more than 60% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Blois, 37 km away. It is one of the 58 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Loire Valley. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗