Château de Villandry and its Gardens

About this place

The Château de Villandry is a grand country house in the village of Villandry in the Loire Valley, central France, about 14 km west of Tours in a straight line. It is known above all for its beautiful gardens. The land, once the site of an old fortress, was bought in the early 16th century by Jean Le Breton, Minister of War under King Francis I, who built a new château around the old 14th-century keep. It stayed with the Le Breton family for more than two centuries and later passed to other owners, including Napoleon in the early 19th century. In the early 20th century Joachim Carvallo and his wife bought it and recreated the gardens in Renaissance style. The gardens are laid out in precise geometric terraces of clipped box hedges: an ornamental garden with hearts and symbols, a kitchen garden planted with vegetables in coloured beds like a painting, and a water garden with a large pool. The pale stone château with slate roofs looks down over the terraces. Visitors stroll the gardens and climb the old keep to see the geometric patterns from above, then tour the furnished château. The gardens change with the seasons and are at their best from May to September.