France · 13th century
The Château du Lude is one of the many monumental châteaux of the Loire Valley (Vallée de la Loire) in France. The château is situated in the commune of Le Lude in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays de la Loire and stands at the crossroads of Anjou, Maine and Touraine. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries. It is a harmonious combination of French design and an English-style landscape, with a rose garden, topiaries, a labyrinth and a botanical walk.
Text adapted from “Château du Lude” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château du Lude ranks #1,842 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #139 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded c. 1250, it is older than 67% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,066 times in the last 60 days, more than 78% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Le Mans, 40 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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