France · 16th century
Château de Valençay is a château in the commune of Valençay, in the Indre department of France. It was a residence of the d'Estampes and Talleyrand-Périgord families. Although it is part of the province of Berry, its architecture invites comparison with the Renaissance châteaux of the Loire Valley, notably the Château de Chambord. The manor was praised as "one of the most beautiful on earth" by George Sand, who also noted that "no king has owned a more picturesque park".
Text adapted from “Château de Valençay” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château de Valençay ranks #493 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #46 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded 1540, it is older than 40% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 10,009 times in the last 60 days, more than 93% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Blois, 52 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.
View on the interactive castle map →