Meslay castle | Office de Tourisme de Vendôme

A unusual site

The castle of Meslay was built for Jean François de la Porte (50-year-old farmer-general and close to the Cardinal of Fleury) during a giant construction project from 1732 to 1735: demolition of the old castle (where Henri IV stayed during the siege of Vendôme in 1589), removal of the village, and creation of a cotton factory sold in Paris and Versailles.

Enter on the intimity of a prestigious family: a guided tour will show you the magnificent reception rooms with exceptional furniture and paintings exclusively of family origin, a rare gnomon (solar calendar) encrusted on a unique parquet floor in Europe, and the hologram of the old castle.

You will also see an exceptional set of vaulted basement kitchens with over a thousand objects from the family collection.

Movies, videos, sound files will punctuate your visit.

A free tour of the outbuildings will allow you to see a complete dovecote, a press with a magnificent apple “piloir” of the seventeenth century, a family collection of horse-drawn cars signed by the greatest coachbuilders of the time, a saddlery with harnesses, saddles, saddle carpets …

A walk on the terrace will make you enjoy the magnificent site, with an exceptional view of the corridor.

THE CASTLE OF MESLAY

WRITERS' DAY

Each year, Meslay Castle hosts a Literary Day: this is the meeting we give to a selection of authors who come to dedicate their works under the century-old charm of the terrace of the château.

Numerous activities (literary cafe, debates, dictation competitions, reading of texts with musical accompaniment, …) are planned with warm exchanges between public and writers during the day.

President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, world-renowned goldsmith Goudji, director of the Figaro Jean-René van der Plaetsen, former minister Maurice Leroy, chief curator of the Palace of Versailles Alexandre Maral, journalist Véronique Jacquier, historians Eric Mension-Rigau, Patricia Bouchenot-Déchin, took part in the activities of these days.

Beautiful castle on a beautifully developed site. The guided tour is very well thought out: technology is combined with beautiful collector’s items. A family home maintained with care and whose history is shared with passion ! ”

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“Meslay, this magnificent pleasure castle … its elegance, the harmony of its proportions will delight those interested in history, the spirit of light, art and beauty…”

Eric Mension-Rigau

Writer, Norman, Associate Professor of History at the Sorbonne

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