P138 - France - Chambord Castle

Chambord Castle,Loire Valley,France

The royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture that blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Italian structures.

It was constructed by King François I in part to be near to his mistress the Comtesse de Thoury, a member of a very important family of France, whose domaine the château de Muides was adjacent. Her arms figure in the carved decor of the château.

Chambord is the largest castle in the Loire Valley, but was built to serve only as a hunting lodge for François I, who maintained his royal residences at Château de Blois and at Château d'Amboise. The original design of the Château de Chambord is attributed, though with several doubts, to Domenico da Cortona, whose wooden model for the design survived long enough to be drawn by André Félibien in the seventeenth century. Some authors, though, claim that the French Renaissance architect Philibert Delorme had a considerable role in the Château's design. Chambord was altered considerably during the twenty years of its construction (1519[4] ‑ 1547), during which it was overseen on-site by Pierre Nepveu. In 1913 Marcel Reymond first suggested that Leonardo da Vinci, a guest of King François at Clos Lucé near Amboise, was responsible for the original design, which reflects Leonardo's plans for a château at Romorantin for the King's mother, and his interests in central planning and double helical staircases; the discussion has not yet concluded. Nearing completion, King François showed off his enormous symbol of wealth and power by hosting his old arch nemesis, Emperor Charles V at Chambord.

香波爾城堡位於法國羅亞爾-謝爾省的香波爾地區（Chambord），是世界上的城堡中最容易辨認其中一個，因為它是融合了傳統法國中古時代的形式與古典義大利的法國文藝復興建築。

香波爾堡是羅亞爾河流域城堡群中最大的城堡，所費不貲，耗費數百年的光陰才完成。西元1519年，由瓦盧瓦王朝的弗朗索瓦一世始建，其1574年去世時也才完成主塔以及一座側翼。接下來的亨利二世雖有繼續興建，卻也在不久之後就荒廢了。最後，是由波旁王朝的路易十四於1684年完成。

這座城堡集合了中世紀要塞的宏偉壯闊和義大利文藝復興的豐富內涵，卻沒有任何可以居住或是軍事防禦的實質功能。再加上地處偏僻，物資往來不便，歷任的國王都極少來此遊玩。

香波爾堡中，最為有名的設計即是它的螺旋雙梯。螺旋雙梯是由達文西設計，位於城堡的主塔中央，兩座不同入口的螺旋式階梯環繞同一空心石柱，交錯盤結貫穿城堡的三層樓。此一設計主要是為了讓國王的皇后及情婦即使在同一時間上下樓，也只會看見彼此的面孔，而不用尷尬地錯身而過，避免雙方發生糾葛。

References sources : Wikipedia