Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566) was undoubtedly one of the greatest lovers in French history, not only because of her beauty and the fact that her lover (King Henry II of France) was about 20 years younger than her, but also because of her wisdom and exquisite taste. The castle that has been associated with Diane de Poitiers' name throughout history is Chenonceau , but it is precisely Chateau d'Anet, her private castle where she lived a large part of her life, that has managed to "disappear from the radar" of the Israeli traveler, which is a shame. Today I will tell you the story of this castle, which has hosted several extraordinary people over the past few centuries.
The Story of Ant Castle
The first castle on the site was built in the 12th century and served as a feudal fortress, hosting, among others, King Philip Augustus of France (reigned 1180-1223). This castle was destroyed in 1378, following a conflict between King Charles V of France (reigned 1364-1380). The next person to enter the history of Annet is Jacques de Brézé (1450-1494), who built a gloomy manor house there in 1470. Lord de Brézé was fortunate enough to marry Charlotte, daughter of King Charles VII of France (reigned 1423-1461) and his mistress Agnès Sorel (1422-1450). However, her royal lineage did not help her when in 1477 her husband caught her red-handed with her lover and killed them both with a hundred sword blows.
The French king at the time, Louis XI (reigned 11-1461), was furious at the murder of his half-sister and was about to have Jacques de Brézé executed. However, in the end, the king was persuaded to reduce the sentence and Jacques was sent to a long prison sentence and lost all his property, including Annette, to his son Louis de Brézé (1483-1463 Louis de Brézé). The same Louis, who was widowed by his first wife, married Diane de Poitiers at the age of 1531, who happened to be more than 52 years his junior. Despite the age difference, the marriage between the two was actually quite successful (at least by the standards of the time) and when Louis died in 30, Diane de Poitiers decided from that moment on to wear only black and white clothes to mourn his death. A few years later, Diana met Henri, then heir to the throne of France, in Poitiers, and they began a romance that would end more than 1531 years later with his tragic death. One of the results of this romance was the transformation of Anne from a modest and gloomy manor house into a magnificent palace.
About a year before Henry II (king from 2 to 1547) came to power, Diana decided to build herself a new, modern palace next to the old mansion that stood there. The task was entrusted to Philibert de l'Orme (1559-1510), one of the greatest architects of the French Renaissance. The result was a magnificent palace with gardens and a beautiful chapel, with the recurring motif throughout the complex being Diana, the goddess of the hunt (for example, the deer, one of Diana's symbols, can be seen at the entrance gate).
In this castle, Diana de Poitiers hosted her lover, and you can find quite a few monograms of the letters DD, which when joined together form the letter H, form the initials of the lovers' names (Henri and Diane). Speaking of monograms, the letter D in ancient Greek is delta, which looks like a triangle. As in her monogram consisting of the letters DD, Diana loved to create monograms of her name using two delta letters, or two triangles, which form… a Star of David! And so when you walk through the castle, you can find the Star of David symbol on the threshold of some of the doors in the rooms and in the garden courtyard.
When Henry died in 1559, Diana decided to move to Château d'Ant permanently, after having to give up Chenonceaux to Catherine de' Medici . After seven relatively quiet years, Diana de Poitiers died in this palace in 1566. Her son decided to build her an impressive tomb, which was completed in 1576, and where her magnificent tomb can be found (her tomb was desecrated during the French Revolution and her body was moved to another location, and only in recent years has she been returned to her original burial place, thanks to DNA tests).
In 1623, the palace passed into the possession of César de Vendôme (1594-1665), the illegitimate son of Henry IV (reigned 1589-1610) and his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées (1573-1599). Their grandson Louis Joseph (1654-1709), who was one of Louis XIV 's brilliant military commanders , decided to renovate and expand the palace. He called on the famous garden designer André Le Nôtre, who created the palace gardens we know today. At the same time, he built a large and magnificent staircase that can be visited during the guided tour of the castle. It is said that the Duke of Vendôme demanded from the architect that the stairs be wide enough for him to climb them on horseback, which he did in order to impress the women invited to one of his balls. During the reign of Louis Joseph, he visited the palace of Louis XIV along with his entourage, and the celebration in honor of the event went down in history as one of the most magnificent celebrations during the reign of the Sun King (fortunately for the Duke of Vendôme, fate was kind to him and he only came away with a financial pit of 100,000 gold francs, unlike Nicolas Foucault, whose similar celebrations ruined his life ).
Since the Duke of Vendôme had no male heir, the palace passed into the possession of the Duc de Maine, the illegitimate son of Louis XIV and the Marquise de Montespan (1640-1707). I suppose you are now beginning to notice the historical pattern of this palace, which almost from the moment it was built belonged to royal bastards or mistresses of the kings of France… And so throughout the 18th century the palace continued to be owned by the descendants of Louis XIV, initially the sons of the Duke of Maine, and after they had no descendants, the palace passed into the hands of the Duke of Penthièvre, a descendant of the Duke of Toulouse , another royal bastard of Louis XIV and the Marquise de Montespan.
The same Duke was very beloved by the people of the town of Ent and its surroundings thanks to his charitable deeds and thanks to them he managed to save his head and the palace from the people of the French Revolution. However, the Duke died (a natural death) in 1793 and the revolutionaries nationalized the palace and sold quite a few of its belongings. During the 19th century, the palace passed from hand to hand and during that period a large part of it was destroyed and in fact only one wing of the original palace remains. At the same time, the original garden of Le Nôtre was completely changed and became an English garden, in accordance with the fashion of the time. The palace continued to pass from hand to hand until in 1884 the palace passed into the control of the Count de Leusse and his wife and their descendants manage the palace to this day.
Visiting the castle
The town and castle of Annette are about an hour and a half drive west of Paris. If you arrive in spring, as I did, you can enjoy beautiful green and yellow blossoms and a pastoral landscape on the way there. The town itself is quite small and sleepy, and when you visit the local tourist office, you will discover that it relies entirely on the castle in terms of tourism. The church where Diane de Poitiers is buried can be visited for free and is located outside the palace grounds. However, the castle itself can usually only be visited with a guide, so it is worth checking in advance on the castle website when the guided tours are held. The visit to the castle takes about an hour, during which you see the only wing of the castle that has survived and the charming church built by Delorme.
Like many castles in the Loire Valley and Ile de France, here you will also get the usual “mix” of portraits, furniture and art objects. However, what gives the castle its added value are the stories about the very colorful characters who lived here, some of which I have briefly brought in this post. The tour is guided by a guy named Patrick, who seems to have dedicated his life to exploring the castle and knows almost every stone in it. There is no doubt that it is a real pleasure to travel with a person who is truly in love with the place where he works and not just with an ordinary guide who recites what he is told. After you have finished visiting the castle and the chapel, you are invited to take a leisurely stroll in the park and try to imagine Diana de Poitiers riding a horse there or bathing in a lake with ice water nearby in order to maintain her eternal youth…
How should you incorporate Annette Castle into your next trip to France?
It is recommended to visit the castle as part of a star tour of Ile de France or a trip to the Loire Valley and/or Brittany (as I did). My conclusion from the visit is simple. Chateau Ent is undoubtedly a hidden gem that is well worth discovering. I highly recommend it to any advanced Francophile who has already seen the must-see castles ( Versailles , Chambord, Chenonceau, etc.) and wants to discover something different.
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