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Chateau d'Angers

Highlight of the sturdy chateau d'Angers is without doubt the Apocalypse Tapestry held within the chateau, 100 metres long and depicting the Apocalypse as described in the Bible in the Book of Revelations. Heady stuff, and entertaining even for the children.

The Château d'Angers is located in the city of Angers in the department of Maine-et-Loire. The fortress of Angers, on a rocky ridge overhanging the river Maine, was one of the sites inhabited by the Romans because of its strategic defensive location.

In the 9th century the fortress came under the authority of the powerful Counts of Anjou, becoming part of the Angevin empire of the Plantagenet Kings of England during the 12th century. In 1204, the region was conquered by King Philippe II and an enormous château was built by his grandson, King Louis IX ("Saint Louis") in the early part of the 13th century.

Nearly 600 m (2,000 feet) in circumference, and protected by seventeen massive towers, the walls of the château encompass 6.17 acres (25,000 m²). In 1352, King Jean II (le Bon), gave the château to his son, Louis I. Married to the daughter of the wealthy Duke of Brittany, Louis had the château modified, and in 1373 commissioned the famous Apocalypse Tapestry from the painter Hennequin de Bruges and the Parisian tapestry-weaver Nicolas Bataille.

Louis II (Louis I's son) and Yolande d'Aragon added a chapel (1405-1412) and royal apartments to the complex. The chapel is a sainte chapelle, the name given to churches which enshrined a relic of the Passion. The relic at Angers was a splinter of the fragment of the True Cross which had been acquired by Louis IX.

In the early part of the 1400's, the hapless dauphin who, with the assistance of Joan of Arc would become King Charles VII, had to flee Paris and was given sanctuary at the château in Angers.

In 1562, Catherine de' Medici had the château restored as a powerful fortress, but, when the Huguenots threatened to take it over, her son, King Henri III, had the towers and walls stripped of their embattlements. However, the king made it part of the military, maintaining its defensive capabilities by installing artillery on the château's upper terraces. At the end of the 1700's, as a military garrison, it showed its worth when its thick walls withstood a massive bombardment by cannons from the Vendean army. Unable to do anything else, the invaders simply gave up.

A military academy was established in the château to train young officers in the strategies of war. In a twist of fate, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) who is best known for taking part in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo was trained at the Military Academy of Angers.

Still a part of the French military, the chateau was severely damaged during World War II by the Nazis when a munitions storage dump inside the château exploded. Today, owned by the City of Angers, the massive, austere château has been converted to a museum housing the oldest and largest collection of medieval tapestries in the world, with the 14th century "Apocalypse Tapestry" as one of its priceless treasures.

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Chateau d'Angers: tourist information, map, travel plans and gites

Places to visit near Chateau d'Angers

Explore places of interest within about 70 kilometres on a map at places near Chateau d'Angers.

Some places to visit within 30 km of Chateau d'Angers are shown below (if found).

Angers Town with castle at 0 km
Chateau de Brissac Chateau at 17 km
Chateau Plessis-Bourre Chateau at 15 km

See also Chateau d'Angers (version Francais)

Airports near Chateau d'Angers

Angers airport at 28 km Nantes airport at 122 km Poitiers airport at 135 km Rennes airport at 146 km Tours airport at 140 km