Château de Chanzé 

Most famous former guest: King Henri IV of France, aka ‘Good King Henry’.

Château de Chanzé is a beautifully authentic old château for rent near Angers in the heart of the Garden of France; the Loire Valley. It has history going all the way back to the 11th Century and still retains a huge amount of medieval ambience. There are five spacious bedrooms and suites in total, and the château can sleep up to fifteen people comfortably.

THE ACCOMMODATION:

There are three spacious suites with en-suite bathrooms and lounge/seating areas, and two smaller bedrooms with shared bathroom. Two of the suites have one double bed and one single while the other has one double bed and two single beds.

Of the two bedrooms, one has one double and one single bed and the other has just one double bed. Thus the château can sleep a total of up to fifteen people.

The centre piece of the château is the very atmospheric 100m2 ‘Banquet Hall’ which has a five metre long solid oak dining table, an enormous, 17th century era fireplace, candelabras, handmade lead-light windows, a Young Chang grand piano and some lovely old antique furniture and art pieces.

There is also a lounge room adjacent to the Banquet Hall with flat screen satellite TV, DVD player with DVDs, comfortable seats and a sofa. The well equipped kitchen has everything you need for preparing meals plus a dishwasher and and extra fridge in the storage room. Check out all the details on the booking page here. (Note: There is a minimum stay of three nights.)

If you don’t feel like cooking at any point, or you’d like to arrange a special event, with advance notice the managers can arrange a chef and waiter, or arrange meals, including breakfast and lunch, be delivered via local catering companies.

The château grounds are very lovely with a large courtyard, and gardens leading down to the River Layon that are filled with flowers and shrubs, and shaded by centuries old oak and walnut trees.

There is an outdoor, heated salt water swimming pool here and also a cave like wine-cellar under the property which remains cool throughout the summer months and which can be a nice place to organize gatherings.

You’ll find plenty of outdoor furniture, for lounging and for al-fresco dining, a fire bowl with complimentary firewood and you can also play some boules or badminton on the lawns.

The WiFi in the château building itself is weak but there is a special ‘Work Lounge’ by the pool where the connection is based and where the signal is strong, and strong enough to be used in the gardens around the swimming pool too.

THE LOCATION:

Château de Chanzé is just over 20 miles south of Angers and around 60 from Nantes, in the wine growing region of Coteaux de Layon, part of the broader Anjou, Loire Valley, wine region. It has 30 appellations (d’AOC), and those in the know will tell you that some of the world’s best dessert wines originate in vineyards around the château. The château owners themselves are enthusiasts and will be happy to help organize all sorts of wine tourism activities in the surrounding area.

The uniquely fertile climate and topography of Loire Valley also makes it one of France’s leading agricultural and horticultural regions and, rather famously, it is home to an incredible amount of lavishly beautiful cheateaux, plus picture perfect little villages, and historical abbeys and churches.

There are many walking and cycling trails to explore around the château, with one just across the road in fact; the old railway track of ‘Petit Anjou’ connecting Thouarcé and Chalonnes-sur-Loire.

Thouarcé, around a mile away, is the nearest village and there you’ll find a supermarket, two boulangeries, a butcher and delicatessen, a hair dresser, a florist, tennis courts and a petrol station.

The nearest railway station is at Angers, Gare d’Angers Saint-Laud, with the nearest airports being also at Angers, and at Nantes just over 60 miles away.

A LITTLE HISTORY:

The site we now know as Chanzé got its first mentions in in the early 11th century, being listed in administrative documents as Canziacus or Canzi, then later that century as Chanzeium, Chanzé or Sanzay.

In the late 13th century the Aménards, having already owned a large amount of neighbouring estates, become Lords of Chanzé, and thus began a long line of association with the château.

This aristocratic family were much involved in the Hundred Years War against the ‘English’ (to keep things simple!). Briand and Guy Aménard fought and died in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and six years later, Jean de Fontaine-Guérin, an in-law to the Aménards, became a famous hero of the Battle of Baugé.

Jean would eventually die in the Battle of Crénon in 1472, before which time though he was made a Knight of the Order of the Crescent and undertook large scale renovations of Château de Chanzé.

Records show that in 1534 the château was passed on via marriage to the Montalais family then in 1543 was bought by a Jaques du Bellay, Baron of Thouarcé.

On March 25th, 1576, it was he who had the honour of hosting the King Henry of Navarre, later to become Henri IV, the famous ‘Good King Henry, at the château. Jaques’ descendents would remain at Chanzé until 1663 when it was sold to the Cossé Brissac who resided there until the revolution when it was burnt down during the associated War of the Vendée.

This burned out shell remained empty until 1818 when it was bought and fully restored by an Etienne-Louis Robert, with the château then passing through many different hands, and seeing many other renovations and enhancements, in the following two centuries.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK DATES & PRICES, AND TO BOOK YOUR STAY AT CHÂTEAU DE CHANZE:

Note: There is a minimum stay of three nights.

Location Category:

Castle & Château Stays in France.

Castle & Château Stays Loire Valley