Indre
Indre (); is a department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administrative region of Cent ...
Centre-Val de Loire
Centre-Val de Loire (; ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley in the interior ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
Geography
Valençay is situated in the
Loire Valley
The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...
. It sits at the end of a plateau. on a hillside overlooking the River Nahon. Valençay is part of Berry.
History
The commune was formed by the union of three settlements: the "Bourg-de-l'Eglise", the "Bas-Bourg" and what is called the "old quarter."
The chateau is a part of the Loire Valley by virtue of the date of its construction and its dimensions, which give it a similar appearance to Chambord.
A 12th-century castle existed on this site, was demolished and construction of its replacement began in 1520, albeit slowly. The chateau was born in the 16th and 17th centuries by the Estampes family. Louis of Estampes, governor and baillif of Blois, undertook the building of the large round tower at the end of the entrance wing. He died in 1530, leaving the tower unfinished. The tower rises above the entry.
Work on Valençay began again about 1540 under Jacques of Estampes, lord of the manor. He had married a Grassement with a financier in the family. The lord wanted a residence worthy of his new fortune. Jacques covered the dome of the tower with an imperial design.
Valençay was rebuilt multiple times.
At the end of the 16th century, Jean of Estampes built a
gatehouse
A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...
in the shape of a
keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...
, confined to four turrets. It connects to the spans built by Jacques. Jean built the building and the tower on the left of the central house. In the 17th century, Dominique of Estampes finished the wing in the same style as the first half. The castle then formed a quadrilateral enclosed by a second wing and, at the bottom of the court, by arcades.
Finance remained mixed with Valençay's history: among its successive owners include farmers. Valençay was sold in 1747 to the general farmer Legendre de Villemorien. He demolished a part of the buildings, preserving only the entry and the first wing. Also Scottish banker
John Law
John Law may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* John Law (artist) (born 1958), American artist
* John Law (comics), comic-book character created by Will Eisner
* John Law (film director), Hong Kong film director
* John Law (musician) (born 1961) ...
purchased it.
In 1803 the castle was purchased by diplomat
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...
..
On 6 May 1941, Georges Bégué, the first SOE agent from England, was parachuted into a field near Valençay. Fifty years later, the
Valençay SOE Memorial
The Valençay SOE Memorial is a monument in France to the members of the Special Operations Executive F Section who died working to liberate the country during World War II.
The memorial was unveiled in the town of Valençay, in the Departments o ...
, originally known as the "''Spirit of Partnership''," was dedicated in honour of the 104 members of SOE's F Section who died for the
liberation of France
The liberation of France () in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance.
Nazi Germany in ...
.
At the end of the Second World War, Valençay suffered considerable damage in August 1944 when an SS division burnt down 42 buildings and murdered 8 innocent people.https://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/indre/commune/valencay/ete-1944-dans-l-indre-valencay-ville-martyre
Design of the chateau
The entrance is asymmetric and features an enormous tower and a house. The wing offers a more homogeneous style but this unity is superficial and of later vintage.
Population
Economy
The town is known for its pyramid-shaped Valençay cheese made from raw goats' milk.
The town's twin city is
Cesano Maderno
Cesano Maderno (Milanese: Cesaa) is a town and ''comune'' of about 39,309 inhabitants in the province of Monza and Brianza, Lombardy, northern Italy. The town borders with the towns of Seveso in the north, in the south with Bovisio-Masciago, in th ...
in
Lombardy
The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...
, Italy
See also
*
Berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...
*
Saint-Benoît-du-Sault
Saint-Benoît-du-Sault (; ) is a commune in the Indre department in central France.
It is a medieval village, perched in a curve on a rocky butte overlooking the Portefeuille River in the former province of Berry. Since 1988, it has been a me ...
*
French wine
French wine is produced throughout all of France in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to th ...
*
Communes of the Indre department
The following is a list of the 241 communes of the Indre department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):Pearl Witherington, Resistance leader during World War II