Parc départemental du Château de Châteauneuf sur Loire

This vast park covering nearly 22 hectares was designed by Le Nôtre in the XVIIIth century and partly rearranged from 1821 as an English park. Planted with hundreds of rare essences, it owes its celebrity to its avenue of rhododendrons stretching over 800 meters. A relic of a magnificent palace, the current castle is now host to the city town hall but also, since 1962, to a fascinating museum about shipping on the River Loire. Visitors can view technical or daily objects, rich iconographical material (oil paintings, prints, engravings, photographs) related to the men who sailed the river and their customs and also contemplate an outstanding collection of Nevers pottery. The numerous models and the documentation centre complete the museum display (3,000 documents and 1,500 works).