The Château de Gizeux is situated some fifteen kilometres north of Bourgueil and 25 kilometres from Saumur, within the green and wooded parc naturel régional de Loire-Anjou-Touraine. It is midway between Angers and Tours.
The château was part of the former province of Anjou and today is in Touraine angevine. It was built on the site of a 14th-century castle.
History
Château de Gizeux formerly in Anjou in the sénéchaussée of Saumur.
The manor of Gizeux belonged to the family of the poet Joachim du Bellay from 1315 to 1660.
The château then became the property of several marquises of Gizeux from the family of Contades.
The buildings have conserved the parts built at different times. Thus, the medieval style mixes with that of the Renaissance.
The château has two large galleries of paintings: the Galerie François Ier (François I) decorated with Italian paintings form the start of the 17th century, and the Grande Galerie des Châteaux decorated with late 17th-century painting, including panels representing royal palaces and rural scenes covering more than 400 m2.
The park land was established in 1829.
Nearby, a church houses the Du Bellays' splendid tombs. The extremely rare 17th-century orants were made of white marble by Ghislain (known as Cambrai), director of the Académie royale de peinture et sculpture in Paris.
