Clos Lucé is today one of the most recognizable and most popular castles of the Loire, mainly due to the fact that it was here that he lived and worked the great Leonardo da Vinci in the last years of his life

Once upon a time there was a small Gallo-Roman settlement on this site, and at the beginning of the 12th century, Hugh of Amboise ordered the construction of a small house made of pink brick here

In the second half of the 15th century, a small manor was built on this site for the king's favorite, Etienne Leloup, assistant cook of the royal kitchen at the residence of Plessis-les-Tours

The small castle of Clos Lucé, made of brick and white stone in the "flaming Gothic" style, cost Charles VIII 3,500 gold crowns, and the deed of sale, dated July 2, 1490, written on parchment, confirming this, is still kept in Clos-Luce

The Cloux residence was not destroyed during the revolution only thanks to the d'Amboise family. After some time, the castle came into the possession of the Saint-Brie family, who have preserved it to this day.

Today, Clos Luce houses the extensive Leonardo da Vinci Museum. Its creators tried to carefully recreate the interiors of Leonardo's time.

So, having visited the Clue residence, you can visit the bedroom with the bed on which da Vinci died, walk through the kitchen with a large fireplace and several rooms furnished in the Renaissance style. There is also a salon with furniture from the time of Louis XV

The castle is surrounded by a small park, walking through which you can stumble upon a collection of model machines built according to Leonardo’s drawings: prototypes of an airplane, a helicopter, a car, a tank, a drawbridge, a parachute...

Also preserved to this day are the chapel built by Charles VIII and the same secret underground passage leading to Amboise, which is located 400 meters from the castle

About the castle
It is impossible to imagine the reign of King Francis I of France without the creativity and works of Leonardo da Vinci. This great genius left behind many works and many mysteries. But there is a castle in the Loire Valley, about which it is known for certain that Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life here.
The Loire Valley has been delighting tourists for decades with the variety of its castles. These lands have been favored by kings, but Clos-Lucé Castle is special. This is not just a castle, it is the last refuge of a genius. Today, the Clos Lucé castle houses the Leonardo da Vinci Museum. Here you can see how he lived, how he worked, where he found his last refuge, and what he managed to invent for such a long time. short term.
A majestic castle made of white and pink stone is located on the banks of the same Loire. The Clos Lucé castle is located in the town of Amboise, just 400 meters from the royal castle of Amboise. While working in his office, Leonardo often liked to look at the castle of his friend the king.
The tour begins at the Clos Lucé castle with a climb to the watchtower. From there you have magnificent views of the surroundings of Amboise and the Amboise castle itself. This castle has a lot of unusual things, from the garden to the exhibition. Therefore, the main feeling that can accompany you throughout the entire excursion is surprise. Through the watchtower you can go inside the palace.
Many rooms in the castle are open for tourists to visit. Let's mention just a few of them. In Leonardo's bedroom you can see a fireplace with the coat of arms of the King of France. There is a lot of furniture made in Italy, the bed is made in the spirit of the Renaissance. From the bedroom the path will lead you to da Vinci's study. Here in the diary you can even see the date of the start of work in France written in Leonardo’s hand. The first French date is on the day of the Ascension of the Lord in Amboise, in Cloux (Castle of Clos-Lucé) - May 1517. In this office, Leonardo works as a court artist, completes his “John the Baptist,” and also works as an engineer and architect. There are many of his personal items, drawings, everything is laid out as if he had just left this office.
After the study, you will see salons furnished in the spirit of the 18th century. Apparently, these rooms served as Leonardo’s workshop, where he completed his paintings. There is a lot of furniture with instructions and gilding, also Venetian chandeliers, Aubusson tapestries, armchairs in the style of Louis XV, a lot of earthenware and porcelain.
The Renaissance main hall will amaze with its splendor. Leonardo da Vinci received visitors in this hall. The tapestries, furniture, and armchairs date back to the 15th century. Here you can also see a bust of Francis I.
Also in the castle you can see Leonardo da Vinci's kitchen. It was run by his devoted housewife Maturina. The main feature of the kitchen is the tall stone fireplace. It was perfectly preserved and has survived to this day safe and sound, despite the revolution and two world massacres. Here you can see forged round dishes with unique paintings from “ Old Testament" There is a “conversation” chair, and the walls are decorated with tapestries from the 15th and 16th centuries. But the most interesting room in the castle museum was and remains the model room. Here you can see the designs of inventions invented by Leonardo. In total, the layout hall combines 4 rooms. Forty models are displayed here, arranged according to original drawings Leonardo da Vinci. The first swing bridge, the first prototype of a tank, the first car, wheeled ship, aircraft, helicopter, and parachute project were built here. And all this was invented by Leonardo back in the 15th century! All layouts are working, you can touch and rotate them.
Here you can also see the chapel, which was painted with frescoes by students of Leonardo da Vinci. In addition to visiting the castle itself, in Clos Luce you will also be offered a walk through the Leonardo da Vinci Park. It is no less interesting than the castle itself. There is even a special route in the lap of nature. You can see with your own eyes how Leonardo's sketches, his hydraulic inventions, and even landscapes come to life. The palace halls can be rented for exhibitions or seminars. The castle of Clos Lucé is historical monument and is protected by law.
History of the castle
Oddly enough, the Leonardo da Vinci Castle Museum began in history as... a convent! Sulpicius the Third of the House of Amboise in 1214 granted lands to the nuns of Monse. In 1477, the favorite cook of King Louis XI, Etienne Le Loup, based on ancient buildings of the Halo-Roman period, erects a small parish on this site manor house-lock. Around this house was built huge amount defensive fortifications, including a square watchtower, which has survived to this day. Narrow windows, secret passage, gallery, drawbridge. In 1490, the estate was acquired by King Charles VIII and rebuilt in his own spirit. It was from this king that traces of the Renaissance remained in the castle of Clos-Lucé against the backdrop of the flaming Gothic style, which appeared a little later. The castle was purchased for 3,500 gold crowns. The deed of sale is still kept in Clos Luce. According to the idea of ​​​​Charles VIII, Clos Luce was supposed to be not just a castle, but a royal residence. Architects, masons, and artists come from all over the country.
Whoever lived in this castle at one time, King Francis I and his sister Margaret of Navarre spent their childhood and youth here. Here lived the favorite of the king, Babou de la Bourdieuseur, and here lived one of the murderers of the Duke of Guise, Michel du Gast, the favorite of King Henry III. It was here that Leonardo da Vinci lived and worked for the last three years of his life. For his work, Leonardo received 700 crowns a year from the king's bounty. He was very friendly with King Francis; not a day passed without them talking to each other. In honor of his friend, Leonardo even organized a magnificent celebration, similar to those he organized at the court of Lorenzo the Magnificent. There is a legend that Francis often came to visit Leonardo through a secret underground passage that has been preserved in the castle since the time of Louis VIII. On the eve of Easter 1519, Leonardo da Vinci, anticipating his imminent death, drew up his will. He bequeaths his drawings, instruments and books to his beloved student Francesco Melzi, and in his will he asks God to take his soul. On May 2, 1519, Leonardo da Vinci passed away.
After the death of Leonardo da Vinci, the castle changed owners several times until it became the property of the Amboise family. It was this family that saved the castle from destruction during french revolution. Then the castle was inherited by the Saint-Brie family. It belongs to this family to this day. They restored it and protected it during the world wars. Now they are conducting a whole campaign to restore the presence of Leonardo da Vinci in this castle.

Clos Lucé is located near the royal castle of Amboise. At the beginning of 1516, Francis I settled Leonardo da Vinci here. The last three years of my life great Italian lived here, receiving rent and other favors from the king, working on various engineering structures. And, they say, he immediately finished Gioconda. For the last year, Leonardo has not gotten out of bed. Here with this one:

Vasari:
“When the king arrived, who was in the habit of often and graciously visiting him, Leonardo, out of respect for the king, sat up straight on his bed and, telling him about his illness and its course, proved at the same time how sinful he was before God and before people because he did not work in art as it should be. Then he had a seizure, a harbinger of death, during which the king, rising from his seat, held his head in order to alleviate the suffering and show his divine favor, recognizing his soul. , which she could not receive a greater honor, flew away in the arms of this king - in the seventy-fifth year of his life."

A copy of Ingres's painting hangs near the bed, it's a fragment.

Now there is a cat sleeping on Leonardo's bed. The right museum, I think:

Opposite the bed - A. Alekseev is studying the museum's booklet. Almost Vermeer:

There are a lot of people here, there is a queue at the gate, but it is not crowded. Maybe because people don’t crowd and push each other. Somehow they know how, you know.
School excursion:

A tapestry with an elephant hangs above the children:

Another woven beast, evil, good:

There are almost no complete tapestries; the surviving pieces are decorated with borders and hung on the walls.

But what a cartoon horse:

And this horse reminds me of Uccello:

I still don’t understand what is genuine here and what is reconstruction. done well. And all the pointers to the topic:

The lower floor and the park are lined with models and models of Leonardo’s apparatus, I won’t be here, everything is already known.

The store there is good. Books, albums and more. You can buy yourself a plush Leonardo for your Christmas tree:

I could barely resist, but I couldn’t help but drink beer:

Excellent beer, local, special.

An active peacock wanders around the park. The tail does not lower, it spins as if wound up and almost pesters passers-by. You probably saw a peacock in front, here it is from behind:

Posters are hung around the park, for people like me who love textures and craquelure:

So stop by if you’re in Amboise, Leonardo’s grave is also there.
(end to follow)

Many French kings favorably treated the picturesque lands of the Loire Valley, building their castle residences on them. But one of these buildings is not ordinary, Castle of Clos Lucé- this is the last one house of the great Leonardo da Vinci. It was here that the artist spent the last three years of his life, having visited France at the invitation of Francis I. And today, a small castle made of pink brick attracts thousands of tourists not because of the flight of architectural and design ideas, but because of the Da Vinci Museum located in it.

Land and buildings in the Loire Valley have changed more than one owner. In ancient times, a Gallic tribe settled here; in the 12th century, Hugh of Amboise built a castle and presented it as a gift convent, and later the territory belonged to Etienne Leloux, a fairly wealthy assistant cook to Louis XI. In 1477 he built a small estate here.

Significant changes occurred after Charles VIII wanted to establish his residence in the castle and bought it for 3,500 crowns in gold. Artists, architects and woodcarvers transformed Clos Lucé into the royal castle as we see it. And for the Queen of France, Anne of Brittany, a chapel was built here from white sandstone.

The Duke of Angoulême and his sister Margaret of Navarre, who later became King Francis I, often lived in the castle in their youth. It was here that the monarch offered to live when he arrived in France in 1516. Francis I paid a salary of 700 ecus every year, maintained a staff of servants, paid for household needs and bought works by the artist. The king liked to listen to his stories about architecture and painting. According to legend, he came to meetings with Leonardo through a secret underground passage. At the age of 67, the artist died in the castle, surrounded by his students, and was buried in the chapel of the royal castle of Amboise. And in Clos Luce was organized as a house-museum of Leonardo da Vinci.

Excursion to the house-museum begins with a climb to the watchtower, which offers views of the valley and the castle of Amboise. At the entrance, tourists are greeted by a museum employee dressed as the artist’s maid. Although the interior reconstruction work carried out by Bernard Vitry is not completely authentic, get an idea of recent years Yes Vinci is possible. Thus, in the bedroom there is a fireplace with the royal coat of arms and Italian furniture, and in the office everything is arranged as if the creator had just left the room and would return soon. Next come salons equipped in XVIII style centuries that served da Vinci exhibition halls. And the main hall in the Renaissance style amazes with its brilliance.

For many years, Leonardo’s legacy existed only in the form of diagrams, but now the museum exhibition also includes a collection of models in the park. Leonardo da Vinci's prototypes of a helicopter, plane, tank and parachute, “seen” in the future, amaze tourists with their similarity to existing ones.

Where is: Amboise, rue du Clos Luce, 2.
How it works: from March to December 9.00-19.00, in July and August 9.00-20.00, rest of the year 9.00-18.00
Price issue: 12.50 euros.
Website

From history
Once upon a time, the lands of the suburb belonged to a convent. Sulpicius III of the House of Amboise gave the land to the nuns of Montsay in 1214. During the reign of Louis XI, on the foundations of a Gallo-Roman structure in 1477, Etienne le Loup, assistant cook of the royal kitchen of the castle of Plessis-le-Tours and the king's favorite, built a small manor house without fortifications. The estate was surrounded by a whole system of defensive structures, which also included a square watchtower, which we can still see today. Its walls were cut through with narrow windows, like those that overlooked the old road. There was also a secret passage, a gallery, and a drawbridge.

And if today in this medieval architecture, ennobled by carved stone, the note of the Renaissance sounds, it is only thanks to the fact that Clos-Lucé was acquired by Charles VIII and became a royal domain. The deed of sale, dated July 2, 1490, written on parchment, currently preserved in Clos-Luce, was purchased for 3,500 gold ecus.

Charles VIII made the Clos-Lucé castle a royal residence, inviting architects, artists, and stone carvers from Naples for this purpose. He also ordered the construction of a white sandstone chapel for Queen Anne of Breton.

The future king Francis I spent his youth in Clos-Luce. He came here with his sister Margaret of Navarre, who wrote a collection of her short stories “Heptameron” here. Lived here beautiful Babu de la Bourdesiere, the king's favorite, and Michel du Gast, captain of the guards of Henry III, who took part in the murder of Cardinal de Guise. Then the castle of Clos-Lucé belonged to the d'Amboise family, which saved it from destruction during the Revolution. For several generations it was the property of the Saint-Bris family, which has preserved the castle to this day. The owners of the castle are trying with the help of the Academy Fine Arts to restore this building in order to return it to the appearance that it had during the time of its most famous guest - Leonardo da Vinci.

At the beginning of 1516, Leonardo da Vinci accepted the invitation of Francis I and settled in France. In the autumn, before the snow fell, he set out on the road, accompanied by his student Francesco Melzi and his servant Battista de Villanis. From Italy he brought with him three paintings: “La Gioconda”, “St. Anne” and “St. John the Baptist”. Francis I met the artist with honors and asked him for “the pleasure of permission to talk with him,” for which Leonardo (according to Cellini) received from the French king a fixed salary of 700 ecus per year. Conversations took place almost every day. To thank the monarch, the brilliant Italian arranged on June 17, 1518 festive performance, similar to those he spent at the court of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Among the guests was a certain Galeazzo Vicenti, who left us a detailed description of this holiday.

On April 23, the eve of Easter 1519, Leonardo da Vinci wrote a will, drawn up by a notary of the Royal Court. Here are his main orders: he bequeathed to Francesco Melzi " in gratitude for his faithful service, books, instruments and drawings relating to his pictorial art "; To Battista Vallanis, his servant, " half of the garden that he owned in Milan", and the other half - to Sale, his student, who has already built a house there. And to his cook Maturina - " a dress of good black cloth, lined with fur, a piece of cloth and ducats".

The artist died on May 2, 1519. According to legend, Francis I himself came to the dying man, but this is just a fiction: that day the king was at a wedding in a completely different place. However, in the Amboise castle there is a poignant painting depicting the king’s farewell to the Genius.

The artist was buried in Amboise in the royal monastery of St. Flarentina. Subsequently, his ashes were transferred to the chapel of St. Hubert of the Castle of Amboise.

In France, many manuscripts and drawings remained, sketches of festive spectacles and attractions, sketches of the Amboise castle from the Clos Luce side and drawings for the Romorantin castle, a project for maintaining the water level in the Loire and a project for draining the Sologne region. The artist invented a method of making collapsible houses for the retinue of the king, who was constantly on the move. In addition, Leonardo da Vinci bequeathed to Francis the unfinished La Gioconda.

Around the castle
The style of the building is still dominated by Gothic, although the originality of this building made of white stone and brick is distorted as a result of inept restoration of the 19th century (the right side of the building was built anew). The halls have been recreated interior from Leonardo's time: a bedroom with a bed (a copy) where the artist died, a kitchen with a large fireplace and several rooms decorated with Renaissance furniture. There is also a salon furnished in the Louis XV style. Several fresco panels have been discovered on the walls of the house, which can be dated XVI century(work of Leonardo's students).

Of interest collections of car models, built according to Leonardo's drawings: prototypes of an airplane, helicopter, car, tank, drawbridge, parachute. Large posters with macro-fragments of paintings are hung on the trees in the garden. brilliant Italian.

The chapel built by Charles VIII and the secret underground passage leading to Amboise have also been preserved. The underground gallery dates back to the Romanesque era and served defensive purposes, but legend connected it with the name of Francis I, who allegedly secretly went to visit the sick Leonardo.

There is a lovely computer game "Da Vinci's Mystery: The Lost Manuscript", the action of which takes place in the carefully drawn interiors of the castle of Clos-Lucé. Here are Francis I, and the beautiful Babu, and paintings by Leonardo (where would we be without La Gioconda?), and his inventions. Official website of the game. So, if it’s not possible It’s quite possible to go to Clos Luce and still walk around its rooms, and without crowds of tourists.))