Château de Meslay

The Château de Meslay was built for Jean François de La Porte (farmer-general for 50 years and close to Cardinal de Fleury) during a gigantic construction project that lasted three years: demolition of the old château (where Henri IV stayed during the siege of Vendôme), relocation of the village to its current location, and the creation of a cotton fabric factory that was sold all the way to the Court in Versailles. In the château, visitors will discover the magnificent reception rooms with their exceptional family furniture, a rare gnomon (solar calendar) inlaid on the parquet floor and 400 m² of spectacular vaulted cellar kitchens. Film, video, sound and holograms will punctuate your visit. In addition to the magnificent site of the castle's terrace, the outbuildings are visitable.
A complete visit of the outsides (with a guided document) enable the public to discover the magnificent site of the castle's terrace, its century-old hedges overlooking the Loir valley and the park. In the outbuildings, visitors can see how the estate functioned in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the complete dovecote (revolving ladder and stone bolts), the press room and its 17th century stone apple crusher, the saddlery with its harnesses bearing the family numbers, as well as an important family collection of horse-drawn carriages signed by the greatest coachbuilders of the time. All the objects presented (more than a thousand) come from the family collection of the castle. A film shows the history of the châteaux and of the 11 generations that have lived there since 1719.

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