La Pagode de Chanteloup

Unique in its kind, the Pagode offers an exceptional panorama on its park, between the Loire valley and the Amboise forest.

In a 14-hectare park, by the shade of age-old trees, the famous structure of the Pagode with its lake is the only remnant of the great castle once owned by the Duc de Choiseul, minister to Louis Xvth, who lived in exile after his disgrace at Chanteloup from 1770 to 1774. As a sign of his gratitude for the loyalty of his friends, Choiseul had the Pagode erected in 1775 by his friend, the architect Le Camus, and admirers came to it from every corner of Europe.
Its inspiration is Chinese, but the style is pure Louis XVIth. The Pagode, unique in its genre, is a very audacious architectural piece. The architect René-Edouard André restored it in 1910.
The top is at a 44 metres height and offers a unique panorama of the Loire valley and of the Amboise forest, giving also a better conception of the outline of the original park with immense perspectives running through it.
The half-moon shaped ornamental lake in which it reflects itself has been renovated. It is continued with a great canal transformed in a lawn. In the caretaker’s pavilion, an exhibition evokes the splendour of the famous Château de Chanteloup, destroyed in 1823 by the “Bande Noire”.

Crédits photos : J.DAMASE CRT CENTRE - IMAGE DE MARC - MARIE-DOMINIQUE OUDIN