The Château de Serrant is a Renaissance

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 ...

situated in the Loire Valley, the private residence of the Prince of Merode. The château is to the west of

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

. It is open to visitors.

History

The Renaissance château is built on the foundations of a medieval fortress. From the 14th century, it was held by the Brie family. Charles de Brie was inspired to start modernisation early in the 16th century, but lack of funds meant the project was halted with only the North Tower completed. Ownershipthen changed hands several times before Guillaume de Bautru, a State Councillor, purchased the property in 1636. De Bautru restarted the construction that had been halted over a century earlier. By using Charles de Brie's original plans and the same russet

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

and white

tuffeau Tuffeau stone — in French, simply ''tuffeau'' or ''tufeau'' — is a local limestone of the Loire Valley of France. It is characterized as a chalky or sandy, fine-grained limestone, white to yellowish-cream in appearance, and micaceous (cont ...

stone, de Bautru ensured that there was a continuity of design. The central halls, two wings and the South Tower were added, with

Jules Hardouin Mansart Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Grand T ...

completing the work of de Bautru by building the chapel. In 1749, the estate was sold by the last surviving descendant of the de Bautru family to

Antoine Walsh Antoine Vincent Walsh (1703 – 1763), was an Irish shipowner and slave trader operating in Nantes, France, whose family were exiled Jacobites. Early life Antoine Walsh was the son of the Jacobite loyalist Philip Walsh (1666-1708), of Ballynacooly ...

, a wealthy

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

slave trader The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and Slavery and religion, religions from Ancient history, ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The socia ...

who came from a family of exiled

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Jacobites. As well as redecorating the interior of the castle, the Walsh family built an English style park,

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

s and a monumental gate complete with the family

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

de Merode de La Tremoille

The château eventually passed out of the hands of the Walsh family in 1830 when Valentine Eugénie Joséphine Walsh de Serrant married the Duc de La Trémoïlle (1764–1839). La Trémoïlle assigned Luciene Magne the task of restoring the château and several features were added, including parapets and cornices. The La Trémoïlle family still owns the château, but in the 20th century it has been modernised with cellars and the introduction of electricity. The current owners are the descendants of Jean Charles, Prince de Ligne de La Trémoïlle (1911–2005). His daughter is Princess of Merode by marriage and they are the parents of Prince

Emmanuel de Merode Prince Emmanuel de Merode (Emmanuel Werner Marie Ghislain de Merode; born 5 May 1970) is a conservationist and anthropologist. He has been the director of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since 2008. Family M ...

. The castle is notable for its

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

stocked with 12,000 books, the vaulted halls which originally held the kitchens and

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's bedroom, which was never used by the Emperor as he stayed at the castle for only two hours.

Gallery

File:Marie Anne de La Trémoille, Duchess of Bracciano, attributed to Nicolas de Largillière.jpg, Marie Anne de La Trémoille, Duchess of Bracciano. Collection of the Prince de Merode File:Veüe du Chasteau de Serrant. en Aniou; a quatre lieües D'Angers appartenant à Mr le comte de Céran, dessin de Louis Boudan – Gallica 2007.jpg, View of the château de Serrant from the garden side in 1695, drawing by Louis Boudan File:Veüe de l entré du chasteau de Serrant. en Aniou; a demi lieüe de lAbbaye de St George sur loyre, 1695, dessin de Louis Boudan – Gallica 2007.jpg, View of the château de Serrant from the entrance side in 1695, drawing by Louis Boudan

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Serrant, Chateau Châteaux of the Loire Valley Châteaux in Maine-et-Loire Historic house museums in Pays de la Loire Museums in Maine-et-Loire Water castles in France