Châteaudun – Explorations of the Town and Château

Châteaudun slept quietly after lunch on the Sunday afternoon we arrived to visit the Château. As you can see the streets were deserted. We had just come from church in Bonneval where the street was filled with people chatting with one another and/or standing in line at the boulangerie for baguettes for the noon meal. Here, everyone had already dispersed to their respective homes.

Châteaudun’s quiet Sunday afternoon streets

Exploring the Château

According to our guide, historians consider it one of the first château of the Loire Valley. Châteaudun is on the edge of the Beauce plain and nearly 196 feet above the Loir River (not the same as the Loire River). The Château is a lovely mixture of medieval, Gothic and Renaissance styles.

Lovely Château de Châteaudun and its Donjon (Keep)

This cylindrical donjon dates from the 12th century: 31 m high and 17 m in diameter. The wooden skeleton dates from the 15th century.

The donjon towers above the Château gate.

The Sainte-Chapelle style chapel was built between 1451 and 1493 and is one of only 7 of its type remaining in France. There are 15 of the statues that you see in this picture.

Sainte-Chapelle

This staircase is in the “Dunois” wing – Jean de Dunois was the 15th century owner.

Longueville Wing- 16th century

Reckoning with the wind

Situated on the Beauce plain, when the wind blows, it blows fiercely. Sometimes I felt the need to lean against something just to keep from being blown over. The wind felt particularly fierce when we walked on the parapet at the top of the Château!

I took the picture below of the medieval kitchen garden from the parapet. The garden lies at the foot of the keep/donjon.

Medieval kitchen garden as viewed from the parapet

Other visitors on our tour complained that the  Château was unfurnished. I don’t find that unusual at all for the Loire Valley château that we’ve visited. To me, that feeling of vastness is what I expect. The kitchen, with its two fire place, uncluttered by furniture and cooking implements, felt enormous.

Two kitchen fireplaces

Châteaudun is about an hour south of Chartres, France by car but you can also take a train from Paris to Châteaudun , Gare Austerlitz. Opening times and prices are posted on their site.