Shinon Castle
Shinon Castle is one of the royal castles built in the valley of the Luara River. The castle consists of three fortresses built at different times.
The main building of Shinon Castle was built back in 954 by Count Tib I de Blois on a hill. In 1037, Count Fulk III Nerra ( Count Anjou ) captured these lands, the garrison of the castle surrendered without a fight. In 1044, Teobald Blois-Chartre was captured and in order to be released he had to abandon claims to own the castle. So the castle passed to the columns of Anjou. The new owners connected the castles, built the tower and chapel of St. Melania. Construction work to strengthen the walls of the fortress and towers was continued by Henry II Plantagenet, who later became king of England. But, nevertheless, this did not help, after a months of siege in 1205, Shinon Castle moved to the French king Philip Augustus. After the capture, Philip ordered the construction of new canals and walls in the castle. Active construction work ended only in the 14th century, when the throne room and the royal bed restroom appeared in the castle.
In 1429, a fateful conversation took place in Shinon, Dauphin Karl VII with Joan of Arc, convincing him that he should oppose his enemies and regain the French throne. Soon he became king of France, and Shinon Castle made the royal residence. Another important event in the history of the castle was the meeting of the envoy of Pope Alexander VI and Louis XII, during which Louis got permission to divorce and the opportunity to marry Anna Breton, Duchess of Brittany. This marriage increased the territory of France.
In the 17th century, the fortress became the property of Cardinal Richelieu, but his offspring did not appreciate the castle and decided to rebuild it. Some buildings and the throne room were destroyed, but there was no new money for the construction, and the castle fell into decay: the ceilings and floors of the Shinon fortress collapsed. Only in 1854 did reconstruction begin due to the high probability of the complete collapse of the castle.
Nowadays, on the territory of the castle you can see Fort Kudra, the ruins of Fort Saint-Georges, in the Chasov tower there is a museum telling about the life of Jeanne d’Arc.
