2015 is a special year in Loire Valley, that throughout the summer will be at the center of an exceptional cultural season that celebrates theYear of Francis I to five centuries exact from coronation to king of France. If you love historical reenactments and costume events, this is the right opportunity to make a trip to the Loire Valley, where it will seem to have happened by magic in the middle of the Renaissance.
The furrow of the events are of course the famous castles of the Loire that were the home of the sovereign lover of the arts and bien vivre and its splendid court.
Centre of power during the Renaissance, the Castle of Amboise is one of the emblematic manors of Loire Valley, river enrolled in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located at an hour in Paris, in the heart of the Amboise Valley, this residence and its gardens offer an exceptional view of the valley. Numerous European artists, invited by the rulers, have transformed this medieval fortress into a Renaissance palace with slender lines, even though the castle is mainly linked to the memory of Leonardo da Vinciburied in the small chapel of the castle. The collection of gothic and Renaissance furniture from the royal apartments and the imposing towers, the beautiful panoramic gardens overlooking the Loire.
Sunday, July 26 and Monday, July 27, Amboise becomes the scenario of Real Days that evoke life at the Court of France in the 1500s, between duels of hood and sword, dances in costume, games and falconry shows, but also parties and shows that frame the Delfino baptism and a royal wedding.
In the same days (26 and 27 July) Castle of the Clos Lucé, 300 meters from Royal Castle of Amboise, the spectacular reconstruction of the party organized by Leonardo da Vinci in 1518 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the French victory of Marignan. A great historical show, between tournaments and princely parades, with over 300 participants in costumes and vintage weapons. Imagined by the Italian Master, this unpublished reenactment is a real hymn to the glory of Francis I, then twenty-one-year-old king crowned Reims for just a year.
The choice of the location is not casual: at the Castle of Clos Lucé, Leonardo lives the last three years of life, devoting itself to completing its inventions. The residence is now dedicated to the discovery and understanding of the work of the Tuscan genius with the great exhibition Leonardo da Vinci and France.
Chenonceau, the most visited private castle of France, second only to Versailles, is instead a castle «to women»: built in 1513 by Katherine Briçonnet according to the model of a Venetian Palace, it is enriched by Diana of Poitiers and Queen Catherine of Medici, who inspired by the Ponte Vecchio in Florence to create the double tunnel on the Cher river. Here the feminine grace is visible everywhere, in the perfect harmony between nature and a unique and recognized architecture in the whole world. Castle Rooms the gardens of Caterina de’ Medici and Diane de Poitiers, examples of the Renaissance art of the gardens, emphasize the elegance of the landscape: from the "Jardin Vert" designed by Bernard Palissy to the Italian maze. Just in the illuminated historic gardens, July 18th is on stage Tasting under the stars, the event of the summer: a walk accompanied by the music of Arcangelo Corelli, with exceptional opening of the great Gallery and tasting with the winemakers of the new wine doc Touraine Chenonceaux.
