Château d’Amboise

The chateau d'Amboise is very striking and crowns the town that settles along the river bank. A tour of this large property will fill you with tales of grandeur, intrigue, and gruesome history. Francis I loved to party, reveling in grand balls, masquerades, festivals, and tournaments. He invited Leonardo da Vinci here and the artist spent his last years at the neighboring manor Clos Lucé. You can see his bedroom, models of machines he invented, and copies of his drawings. Catherine de Medici brought her young son Francis II and his young bride Mary, later Queen of Scots, to Amboise when the Protestants rose up after the Saint Bartholomew massacre. The Amboise Conspiracy of 1560 involved a group of Protestant reformers who followed the royal court from Blois to Amboise under the pretense of asking the king for permission to practice their religion. However, their plot was betrayed to the powerful Duke of Guise (Scarface) and upon arrival they were tortured, hung from the battlements, and left twisting in pain for days—the court and the royal family would come out to watch them. (Open all year, fax: 02.47.57.62.88.)