Chinon is a French commune located in the Indre-et-Loire
department, in the Center-Val de Loire region. It is one of the two
sub-prefectures of Indre-et-Loire (the other being Loches). Its
inhabitants are called the Chinonais.
Placed on the course of
the Vienne, in a strategic position on the borders of Touraine,
Anjou and Poitou, endowed with a rocky outcrop fortified since
Antiquity, the city, with its imposing fortress, has long played a
key defensive role. Chinon is one of the favorite strongholds of the
Plantagenets. Jean sans Terre lost it to Philippe Auguste, who added
it to the domains of the Crown of France. Seat of the court under
Charles VII, place of his meeting with Joan of Arc, the city will
only leave the royal bosom to pass into the hands of Cardinal
Richelieu and his family, who keep it until the Revolution.
Enriched by the cultivation of vines and the wine trade, the town
has found, with the installation of the Oats nuclear power plant, an
industrial counterpart to its traditional agricultural activity.
Located near the castles of the Loire, on the detour of Vienne on
the Loire à Vélo tourist circuit, Chinon also attracts many
tourists. Since 2000, the city is part of the section of the Loire
Valley registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List under cultural
landscapes.
The old town develops around an east-west axis, the high street, at the foot of the hill, therefore sheltered from the floods of the Vienne (today, from west to east: rue Haute-Saint-Maurice, rue Voltaire, rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, rue Diderot). Its urban network and numerous buildings date back to the Middle Ages, in particular the 15th century, when the presence of the royal court encouraged significant urban development.
The royal
fortress of Chinon is located on the rocky outcrop dominating the
right bank of the Vienne and the city. This strategic position
allows it to control the passage over the river, which flows into
the Loire a few kilometers away. This medieval fortress, remarkable
for its dimensions, dominates the whole of the old town, which
developed below, over its entire length (about 500 meters long by
100 meters wide), its walls following the contour of the river.
rocky outcrop.
The whole is divided into three distinct
parts, which the kings called their "three castles", and which
appear in a stylized way, in the form of three towers, on the coat
of arms of the city. From west to east, the spur is blocked by a
series of ditches that separate the three castles: Fort du Coudray,
Chateau du Milieu, and Fort Saint-Georges, each with an independent
enclosure. The main buildings, including the royal residences, as
well as the Saint-Melaine chapel were located in the main castle,
the Château du Milieu.
The entrance to the Château du Milieu,
which forms the central part of the complex, is via the Clock Tower,
built in the fourteenth century. A Marie-Javelle bell, cast in 1399,
is placed in a lantern on the platform. It rings every hour, and it
is operated by hand for special occasions. Towards the east, the
moat that separates the Château du Milieu from Fort Saint Georges
was once spanned by a wooden bridge leading to a drawbridge. A stone
bridge replaced it.
Property of the departmental council of
Indre-et-Loire, the fortress - a time reduced to a state of ruin -
was the subject, from 2003 to 2010, of a major restoration program.
The site restored 150 meters of ramparts (southern ramparts of Fort
Saint-Georges, eastern ramparts of Château du Milieu), the Coudray
keep, with its initial access staircase, as well as the royal
residences. A new building, integrated into the site, houses the
reception, the shop, the ticket office and an exhibition hall. An
archaeological site prior to the work made it possible to explore
nearly 4,000 m2 and bring to light the palace built by King Henry II
Plantagenet around 1160, as well as several towers and a chapel.
At the foot of the castle, the fortified town,
the original nucleus of Chinon and the best-preserved part of the
town, has been surrounded by ramparts at least since the fourteenth
century. It is crossed from east to west by a main street, the rue
Haute Saint-Maurice where there is a succession of half-timbered
houses, public buildings (House of the States General, Bailliage
palace) and mansions of the fifteenth, sixteenth ( Maîtrise des Eaux
et Forêts), 17th century (Hôtel du Gouverneur) and 18th centuries
(Hôtel Torterue de Langardière. The district is served by the
Saint-Maurice church.
Painctes cellars
Located in the
fortified town, the Caves Painctes form part of the vast network of
galleries dug under the hillside to extract the tufa. Some sections
have been reused as wine cellars. The immense vaults of the Caves
Painctes, cited by Rabelais in his work, house the chapters of the
brotherhood of the Good Rabelaisian funnels, founded in 1961:
chapter of Saint-Vincent (January), chapter of the Flower (June),
chapter of the Harvest (September) and Diane chapter (December).
Saint-Etienne district
In the extension of rue Haute
Saint-Maurice (rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau), to the east of the
fortified town, the Saint-Étienne district is a former suburb that
was fortified in the fourteenth century, less densely built and
modified in the nineteenth century. . Historically dedicated to
commerce, this prosperous district retains beautiful half-timbered
houses, notably around the Puits-des-Bans crossroads.
Canonical quarter
To the east, grouped around the Saint-Mexme
collegiate church, the old religious center of the city, the
canonical quarter contains some very beautiful residences of canons
(hotel rue Hoche, hotel de Chavigny rue de Buffon), dating from the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. and often reworked in the 17th
and 18th centuries.
Old suburbs frame the city center.
At the outlet of the
medieval bridge, on the left bank of the Vienne, the Faubourg
Saint-Jacques, entirely protected by dikes, was built by the
Plantagenets to serve as a bridgehead and improve links to the south
and their possessions in Poitou .
West of the fortified town,
the Vieux-Marché suburb housed convents in the 17th century. Today
remains the convent of Calvairiennes, redeveloped into housing.
Further west, along the river, the Saint-Louans hill is made up of a
village and isolated dwellings, around a priory founded in the
Merovingian era. The landscape is rural, made up of vineyards.
From the 19th century, the city spread eastwards towards the
station, inaugurated in 1876.
Saint-Maurice Church
Parish Church of the Fortified City, it
grows at the same time as the city: the oldest part is the base of
the bell tower, which dates back to the beginning of the 12th
century. The nave and the choir which was attached to it were
rebuilt at the end of the 12th century in Angevin Gothic style, with
very domed ribbed vaults receiving an elaborate decoration at the
level of the keystones and the ribs. At the end of the 15th and the
beginning of the 16th century, a series of chapels were added to
this single nave, forming a side aisle to the south, testifying to
the transition between Flamboyant Gothic art and the Renaissance. A
new extension was envisaged in the nineteenth century, but was
ultimately not carried out: we then contented ourselves with putting
color back into the church, with stained glass windows from the
Lobin workshop, a granite flowerbed and murals inspired by the
Saint. -Chapel in the choir.
St. Stephen's Church
Parish
church in the eastern quarter or suburb of Saint-Étienne, it was
entirely rebuilt in the 15th century on a very simple plan: a single
nave and a very bright choir lit by numerous bays. These bays now
house glass roofs from the Lobin workshop, in particular four
episodes from the religious life of Chinon and the surrounding area:
the death of Saint Martin at Candes in 397, the miracle of Saint
Mexme in Chinon in the fifth century, Saint Radegonde coming to
visit Saint John on the site of the chapel which will bear his name,
finally the recognition of Charles VII by Joan of Arc in 1429.
Collegiate Church of Saint-Mexme
Main religious building in
Chinon until the Revolution, the Saint-Mexme collegiate church is
today a cultural center. The Romanesque nave from the year 1000
houses a small wooden theater. The western massif from 1050 contains
wall paintings from the 12th, 13th and 15th centuries, a beautiful
18th century staircase and abstract stained glass windows made from
cartoons by the painter Olivier Debré. Several old residences of
canons, built from the 15th to the 18th century, are arranged around
the collegiate church.
Sainte-Radegonde Chapel
Chinon is
rich in troglodyte habitat, established on the south face of the
hill overlooking the Vienne. These dwellings are undoubtedly the
first of Chinon. The many “remaining caves” built along the hillside
remained inhabited until the middle of the 20th century. The
Sainte-Radegonde chapel is a sixth-century hermitage on which was
built a troglodyte chapel, which has been occupied since very
ancient times. It was undoubtedly a place of pre-Christian worship,
as suggested, among other things, by the well which had been dug
there. The complex has three remaining cellars, as well as
interesting galleries and interior rooms. The chapel contains
numerous wall paintings, including a famous 12th-century 'royal
hunt' that is believed to depict members of the Plantagenet family.
Museums
Lively Museum of Wine and Cooperage
Open since
June 1, 1979, this museum is the work of one man. Chinese origin.
Over the course of five years, he gathered all the tools presented
and 2,500 hours of work were necessary for the realization of the
fourteen automatons, thanks to which come to life the utensils that
were used, at the end of the last century, in the manufacture of
wine: barrel , press, bowl, gin, etc.
Carroi Museum
In the
heart of the historic city, the house of the Estates-General, dating
from the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, is one of
the most representative buildings of Chinese architecture. It was
there that Charles VII gathered the States-General in 1428, in order
to convince them of the need to raise the money necessary for the
fight against the English and the Burgundians. Became an inn in the
17th century, then a bakery (from the end of the 19th century until
1968), the building, restored in the 1970s, houses the Carroi
museum, managed by the Community of Communes Chinon Vienne et Loire.
It offers the visitor collections of works of art and objects
illustrating the history of the city and its country, from
prehistoric times to the 19th century.
In particular, we find:
the so-called “Saint-Mexme” yoke,
Hispano-Moorish fabric from the 12th century, adorned with cheetahs
facing each other, chained together and accompanied by elements
evoking hunting. This work was restored in 198893;
a portrait of
Rabelais (2.10 m × 1.50 m), painted in 1833 by Eugène Delacroix for
the town of Chinon, in which is represented an image both
traditional and romantic of the great “master François”. This
painting adorns the room of the States-General;
Langeais
earthenware, religious statuary, objects linked to companionship.
Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions
Located on the
Sainte-Radegonde hill, in troglodyte cavities that served as a home
and a workplace, this museum presents a collection of ancient
objects relating to daily life and to the ancient trades carried out
on the hill or in the surrounding area. . A cave dwelling room has
been reconstructed with all its furniture and familiar objects.
Public statuary
Rabelais statue
Inaugurated in 1882 at the
outlet of the Place du Général de Gaulle, the statue of Rabelais by
Émile Hébert represents the child of the country seated, in a
doctor's dress, holding a feather in his hand. The bas-reliefs on
the plinth recall his different activities: a dissection, Gargantua
and mottos recalling his contribution to humanism.
When
Mirapolis Park closed, the city showed interest in recovering the
35-meter statue of Gargantua before changing its mind in view of the
amount to be paid for its dismantling, its journey to destination
and its reconstruction.
Equestrian statue of Joan of Arc
The equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, the work of sculptor Jules
Roulleau, was inaugurated on August 13, 1893 by Admiral Henri
Rieunier (1833-1918), then Minister of the Navy. This bronze
equestrian group, seven meters high and weighing 7 tons, cast by the
Thiebaut brothers in the Paris region, had been exhibited in Paris
for the holidays of July 14, 1893. Despite all the attempts it had
been impossible to ship it by the rail, and strong Percherons,
attached to a solid car, had ensured the transport to its current
location, the current Place Joan of Arc. The Maid is represented in
the saddle, holding her sword in her right hand and in her left
brandishing her standard. His horse passes over the bodies of two
English soldiers lying on the ground. The inspiration of the
sculptor could come from an earlier painting painted by Raymond
Balze, whose composition is very similar, itself referring to the
prophecy of Merlin quoted by Christine de Pisan: "A virgin will come
whose horse will trample on its back." archers ”.
Sacred
Heart of Chinon
This statue perched on the hillside was erected
on a private site, following a vow made in Saint-Étienne, in April
1940, by the archpriest Marie-Joseph Vivien, to implore divine
protection during the Second World War. Completed and blessed in
June 1941, the statue, which recalls the Christ of Corcovado by its
pose, is the work of sculptor Paule Richon. It was executed in
cement sprayed with a trowel on a metal frame and modeled on site.
The strategically interesting site was already inhabited in the
Neolithic. A Gallic oppidum was followed by a Gallo-Roman castrum. Among
the first important Christians to work in Chinon were Brictius of Tours
(Fr. Brice, c. 370-444), a follower of Martin of Tours, who founded the
church of St. Martin, and Mexme, founder of a church and monastery. The
place was first mentioned in writing as Caino in the 6th century by
Gregory of Tours (538-594). From 964 to 1044, Chinon came under the
Counts of Blois. The builder of the first castle was Theobald I of Blois
(† 975). His descendant Theobald III. left the fief in 1044 to the Count
of Anjou Gottfried II (French Geoffroi or Geoffroy Martel).
When
Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Anjou (1151), who had married Eleanor of
Aquitaine in 1152, ascended the English throne in 1154, Chinon fell
under English rule. Henry chose Chinon as his residence and died there
after building large parts of the castle. This extends over 430 meters
in length and 85 meters in width, the tower of which reaches a height of
almost 40 meters. After him, Chinon Castle was temporarily inhabited by
Richard the Lionheart and his brother John and his wife Isabella of
Angoulême. In 1205, the King of France Philip II Augustus conquered
Chinon and incorporated Touraine into the royal domain.
In
Chinon, in 1429, in the castle of Joan of Arc, he faced the Dauphin and
later King Charles VII and received permission from him to march against
the English in Orléans.
Blazon: In red, three perspective, three-towered, brick castles, with
gate, battlements and two windows on each tower, the larger central
tower set back and roofed, and three golden heraldic lilies in
alternating order in two rows.
Versions: in addition to the
modern perspective form of the brick castle with a roofed and
battlemented main tower and the unroofed, battlemented fore towers
(flank towers), there is a castle form with three identical brick towers
standing in a row, unroofed and flagged, the middle one with a closed
gate and one Version with roofed and battlemented main and battlemented
flank towers, the latter with masonry conical bases and a window, the
main tower with an open gate, chain slots and an open gate.
Chinon is the scene of two English feature films, which of course
were not filmed in the castle ruins:
Becket (1963) based on the
play Becket or the Glory of God by Jean Anouilh, screenplay Edward
Anhalt (Oscar 1964), directed by Peter Glenville, with Peter O'Toole
(Henry II of England), Richard Burton (Thomas Becket) and John Gielgud
(Louis VII of France). Filming locations were Shepperton Studios
(England), Alnwick Castle and Bamburgh Castle.
The Lion in Winter
(1968), screenplay James Goldman, directed by Anthony Harvey, starring
Peter O'Toole (Henry II of England), Katharine Hepburn (Eleanor of
Aquitaine), Anthony Hopkins (Richard the Lionheart), Nigel Terry (Johann
Ohneland) . Filming locations were Ardmore Studios (Ireland), Montmajour
Abbey near Arles and Tarascon Castle.
The Princess of Montpensier by
Bertrand Tavernier (2010).
L'Escargot noir (TV film directed by
Claude Chabrol, 1988).
In addition, the city of Chinon is the home of
the Verneuil family in the French comedy films Monsieur Claude and his
daughters (2014) and its sequels Monsieur Claude 2 (2019) and Monsieur
Claude and his big party (2021), all directed by Philippe de Chauveron .