The Chateau de Chambord is a Renaissance castle in the Loire Valley of France, begun for King Francis I as a hunting lodge in a forest, and it is one of the best-known castles in the country. Its design mixes the layout of a medieval fortress, with towers and a moat, with the new Italian-inspired forms, and it has a famous double-helix staircase, in which two people can climb without meeting, that is often linked with the ideas of Leonardo da Vinci, who spent his last years in France. The roof is a forest of towers, chimneys and dormers. Francis seldom stayed there, and the castle was left unfinished at his death. It is surrounded by the largest walled park in Europe.
Before and after
- 31 October 1517Origins of Lutheranism
- 10 November 1517Origins of Protestantism
- 1518Dancing Plague of 1518
- 1 January 1519Origins of Reformed Christianity
- 1519Construction of Château de Chambord
- 1519Birth of Jacopo Tintoretto
- from February 1519 to August 1521Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
- 2 May 1519Death of Leonardo da Vinci
- from 10 August 1519 to 8 September 1522Magellan-Elcano expedition
More in Art, literature & culture
- 1600Rise of Baroque music
- 1616Construction of Sultan Ahmed Mosque
- 1670Construction of avenue des Champs-Élysées
- 17th centuryRise of ukiyo-e
- 25 April 1719Publication of Robinson Crusoe
- October 1745Publication of God Save the King
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.