The Royal Château de Plessis-lèz-Tours is the remains of a late Gothic

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

located in the town of

La Riche La Riche () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population See also * Château de Plessis-lez-Tours * Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire dep ...

in the

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...

department, in the Loire Valley of France. Around three fourths of the former royal residence were pulled down during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

in 1796. Plessis-lèz-Tours was the favorite residence of King

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revo ...

, who died there on 30 August 1483. It was also the scene of the 1589 meeting between King

Henry III of France Henry III (french: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; pl, Henryk Walezy; lt, Henrikas Valua; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of ...

and the future King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

which resulted in their alliance against the Catholic League. The present building is only a small part of the château originally built by Louis XI in the 15th century. The original château had three wings in the shape of a U. The room where Louis XI died can be visited. It has late 15th-century wooden

linenfold Linenfold (or linen fold) is a simple style of relief carving used to decorate wood panelling with a design "imitating window tracery", "imitating folded linen" or "stiffly imitating folded material". Originally from Flanders, the style became ...

panelling. The first floor has paintings and sculpture devoted to

St. Francis of Paola ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

, whom Louis XI summoned to live near him until his death. Inside the château is a display of iron cages which were suspended from the ceiling and used to hold prisoners. The cages were so small that the prisoners were unable to stand. The remaining wing, which had long been used as a dairy farm and a

buckshot A shotgun shell, shotshell or simply shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellet-like spherical sub-projectiles called shot, fired throu ...

factory, has been listed as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' since 1927 by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, ...

. File:Chateau de Plessis-les-Tours Louis Boudan.jpg, Château de Plessis-lez-Tours. File:CHateau de Plessis-les-Tours Courtyard Louis Boudan.jpg, View of the Royal Château de Plessis-lèz-Tours three wings in 1699 File:Château royal du Plessis.jpg, View of the Royal Château de Plessis-lèz-Tours from the park File:Chateau de Plessis-les-Tours 17th century.jpg, Chateau de Plessis-les-Tours 17th century File:Château de Plessis-lès-Tours 2.jpg, The remaining wing of the château (east side of the facade) File:Plessis-lès-tours.JPG, The remaining wing of the château (west side of the facade)

Sources and citations

(This is an edited translation of the article in the French-language Wikipedia.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau De Plessis Lez Tours Houses completed in the 15th century Plessis-Lez-Tours Plessis-Lez-Tours Plessis-Lez-Tours