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French Castles: Château de Bouges:
Chateau de Bouges, An 18th-Century Mansion In The Town Of Bouges-le-Château, In The Indre Département Of France
Chateau de Bouges
Château de Bouges
Located a few kilometres from the Château de Valençay, the Chateau de Bouges is in the heart of the Berry region in Central France. The building, of Neoclassical architecture is simple and elegant, furnished with arts of work from the 18th century onwards.
Built in 1759, the Chateau de Bouges, a very symmetrical building, has a stunning resemblance to the Petit Trianon in Versailles. It is said that is was even built by the same architect, Ange-Jacques Gabriel.
Chateau de Bouges
The Chateau de Bouges is particularly interesting because it has kept an inhabited appearance.
Until 1967 the Chateau was kept as a private residence, but in 1968 it was donated to the National Fund for Historical Monuments and Sites. Despite that, it looks as if it is still inhabited by the owners, as almost every room is decorated with fresh flower arrangements from their own grounds. The dining and drawing rooms also have sweets and fruit plates on the tables. This gives you the impression that any minute the Lady of the Chateau will appear in front of you to offer you a seat in one of the 18th century chairs.
There is a lovely stone staircase to access the second floor, where you can visit a few rooms but not all of them. On the ground floor there is a big hall that opens up to the gardens.
We visited the Chateau with our children and grandmother, and she was so at ease there that I had to stop her several times from sitting on the furniture or browsing through the books in the library! As for the children... of course they were mad to get to the sweet jars, so appetizing that even I was tempted!
Chateau de Bouges Gardens
The Gardens
The formal garden is in the French style and 80-ha of grounds stretch out around the château. The old "farmyard" is surrounded on both sides by buildings which are topped up by high, Mansard style, slate roofs. They accommodate beautiful stables, two tack rooms and a horse-drawn carts museum.
Château de Bouges
Château de Bouges - Bouges-le-Château
French Castles
Going there:
From Paris: 235 km. by car on the A20 motorway then secondary roads D 926 to Liniez and D 66 towards Bouges-le-Château
From Valençay: secondary road D 956 towards Châteauroux to Levroux, then secondary road D 926 towards Vatan as far as D 37
Visits and admission fees
The Chateau is closed from December to February on May 1, November 1 and November 11
Prices
Adults : 6,50€
Concessions (18 to 25) : 4,50€
Rate for groups (minimum 20 people) : 5,30€
Free admission for children under 18
Renting the monument
The chateau the Bouges can be rented for venues such as wedding receptions, dinners, concerts and exhibitions all year round.
Other Castles I visited In The Same Area
- French Castles: Valencay
Only 10 Km. away you will find the 16th Century Chateau de Valençay. A place to spend a whole day with your family admiring the architecture and decoration, following the live shows, or having a picnic. - Azay le Ferron: The Chateau
The castle of AZAY-le-FERRON looks like a typical example of the beautiful Loire castles. Located also in the Berry area of France, the Chateau is an exquisite building. - French Castles: Argy
Chateau d' Argy: Located in the Indre department -3 hours drive from Paris- in the Berry area of Central France, the Chateau d'Argy was a military castle, a fortress during the mediaeval ages. - Chateau de Bonnu
Bonnu is a very small village in Indre. It is part of Cuzion, a bigger village situated in the middle of France in an area also known as Berry. - Castles of France
Album of 200 photos of French Castles:Medieval,Renaissance,Royal and Classical castles, in Loire Valley
Comments
- Author
Carl: thanks for visiting. I see you are a "chateaux lover" too, you'll enjoy to read about the other chateaux I've visited. I enjoyed your photos of Azay le Rideau :)
What a wonderful Chateaux. I look forward to reading your site in the future.
- Author
pjdscott: We are lucky around here, admission prices to most Chateaux are very affordable. There is also the option of a lower price if you only want to spend the day in the gardens. On top of that, twice a year there is a free weekend where most museums and Chateaux are open to the public free of charge.
A wonderful hub with lovely pictures and descriptions! The admission price is not too expensive to sample such culture and architecture...
The French really know how to make a brilliantly manicured garden.
Chateau de Bouges is AMAZING, I went there when I was like 18, I miss France!
WOW really nice wheres mine?
It's Beautiful, i love France, it's a fascinating country, i've visited the south of France, Côte d'Azur, and it's wonderful. I live close and i'll be visiting more often:)
Holy Cow this is so cool. I LOVE castles. It looks like I need to book my next vacation to France ;)
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