Valençay
Valençay | |
|---|---|
 Château de Valençay | |
Location of Valençay  | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Centre-Val de Loire |
| Department | Indre |
| Arrondissement | Châteauroux |
| Canton | Valençay |
| Intercommunality | Valençay |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2001–2008) | Claude Doucet |
Area 1 | 41.59 km2 (16.06 sq mi) |
| Population (1999) | 2,736 |
| • Density | 66/km2 (170/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 36228 /36600 |
| Elevation | 91–154 m (299–505 ft) (avg. 145 m or 476 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Valençay is a commune in the Indre department in central France.
Geography
Valençay is situated in the Loire Valley on a hillside overlooking the River Nahon.
History
The commune was formed by the amalgamation of three settlements: the "Bourg-de-l'Eglise", the "Bas-Bourg" and what is called the "old quarter."
On 6 May 1941, Georges Bégué, the first SOE agent from England, was parachuted into a field near Valençay. Fifty years later to the day, the Valençay SOE Memorial, originally known as the "Spirit of Partnership," was dedicated in honour of the 104 members of SOE's F Section who died for the liberation of France.
Valençay is berrichon by its geographical situation. But the castle is attached to the Loire Valley by the time of its construction and its vast dimensions which give him the same appearance as Chambord. Built at the end of a plate, Valençay faces the river Nahon. the entry astonishes by its dissymmetry and the surprising presence of an enormous tower and a house. The wing offers a more homogeneous style but this unit is only apparent and dissimulates several recoveries. The castle is built at XVIth and XVIIth centuries by the family of Estampes. The castle of XIIth century which existed on this site, was destroyed and in its place the construction, very slow began, which starts in the years 1520. Louis of Estampes, governor and baillif of Blois, undertake the gross round tower at the end of the wing of entry. It dies in 1530, leaving the unfinished tower.
A castle of financial. Work of Valençay begins again about 1540 thanks to Jacques of Estampes, lord of the manor of the feudal residence which existed at this place. This lord, having married the girl grassement equipped with a financier, wanted to have a residence worthy of his new fortune. Jacques of Estampes makes cover the tower of a dome to imperial. Starting from the tower, it raises half of the wing in return and begins the wing of entry. At the XVIth century end. Jean of Estampes builds surprising it house of entry in the shape of keep, confined of four turrets and crowned of a covered way, like the tower. He connects it by a body of gallery on a floor to the first spans built by Jacques. Jean of Estampes builds also the building and the tower on the left of the central house. At the XVIIth century, Dominique of Estampes finishes the wing in return in the same style as the first half high to XVIth century. One knows by an old sight that the castle then had the form of a quadrilateral closed by a second wing in return and, at the bottom of the court, by arcades. Finance remains often mixed with the history of Valençay: among its successive owners pass from the general farmers. Thus Valençay is sold in 1747 and is acquired little afterwards by the general farmer Legendre de Villemorien. This one made cut down a part of the buildings, preserving only the wing of entry and the first wing in return of which it transforms the roof and at the end of which it raises a tower. The famous John Law of which dazing it adventure was a first and masterly example of inflation was himself also one of the owners of the castle.
Sights
The town is dominated by the Château de Valençay, built in 1540 by Robert d'Estampes and most notably acquired in 1747 by the Scottish Banker John Law. In 1803 the castle was purchased by the diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand.
Economy
The town is known for its pyramid-shaped Valençay cheese made from raw goats' milk.
See also
External links
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