Lavardin : château des comtes de Vendôme et fresques de Saint-Genest

Lavardin

On its spur above the Loir, the fortress of the counts of Vendôme was held to be impregnable — and history very nearly proved it right for ever. In 1188, at the height of the struggle between Philip Augustus and the Plantagenets, Richard the Lionheart came to besiege it: the militias of Montoire and Lavardin, joined with the troops of the King of France, forced him to raise the siege. Rebuilt around 1380 by Jean VII de Bourbon, the castle enjoyed its finest hour in the mid-15th century: Charles VII signed the Truce of Lavardin with the English here in 1447, and tradition holds that, during the sumptuous festivities given for the king and Agnès Sorel, the first diamonds ever offered to a woman in France sparkled at the favourite's throat. In 1589, held by the Leaguers, the stronghold was taken by the Prince de Conti for Henri IV, who had it dismantled: what remains is a gutted keep 26 metres high and three ruined enclosures, overrun with greenery. Below, the priory church of Saint-Genest, from the late 11th century, hides another treasure: wall paintings of the 12th to 15th centuries, long protected beneath limewash — the Baptism of Christ, the Tree of Jesse, the Washing of the Feet, scenes of the Passion, and a striking triptych of paradise, hell and purgatory teeming with the damned and demons, with a great Saint Christopher, protector of travellers.

Getting there : D108, 2 km from Montoire-sur-le-Loir; you enter the village by the Gothic bridge over the Loir, parking nearby; the church is in the centre of the village, the castle above it, reached by a footpath.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound