France · 11th century
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 #3,612 of 9,035 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #279 of the 787 mapped in France. Founded c. 1025, it is older than 91% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 439 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,521 times in the last 60 days, more than 62% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Blois, 37 km away. It is one of the 73 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Loire Valley. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
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