France June 2016 - Langeais
Our next stop was the medieval Castle of Langeais, sitting next to the Loire River in the middle of a quaint little village. As you can see, it has a moat, drawbridge and turrets.
But the castle walls are mostly for show, as cannon had been invented by the time the castle was built in the 1460s. This castle was a transitional piece of architecture: part medieval and part Renaissance.
The "new" castle, built during the 1460s, is on the left side. It is a perfect example of 15th-century military architecture : the high walls; the massive towers (rounded rather than square), the water-filled moat; walls slanted at the base for extra thickness.
In the center of the park is the remnants of a square-shaped Keep, built by our old friend, the Black Falcon.
The interior is late Middle-Ages. It's restoration was the life's work of a 19th century owner who was a lover of medieval art. He decorated and furnished the rooms with 15th- and 16th-century artifacts or good facsimiles.
The rooms -- with hanging tapestries, foldable chairs, and big chests with handles -- could have been set up in a matter of hours. The furnishings were designed to impress, and ready to pack and move. Big-time landowners circulated through their domains, moving every month or so.
This was typical of the tapestries we would see in all the castles, chateaus and palaces. They did not have painted drywall with framed pictures hung like we do today. They had stone walls with a tapestry hung to cover it.
A great shot from the top of the keep, looking down at the castle and garden.
"The inner courtyard shows the first signs of the influence of the Italian Renaissance, which had begun in Italy in the 14th century."
