I Capture the Castle

All museums in France are free on the first Sunday of every month so I went to the Angers Castle today with Sachiko and Moe. We wandered around the battlements, looked through the arrow loops into the street, saw the elevated garden and the royal residence with its magnificent gatehouse. On the wall of the gatehouse is the family tree of King Rene. Last year was the 600th anniversary of King Rene’s birth and currently parts of the castle are being renovated in celebration of last year’s event.

After passing through the gatehouse, we made our way to the book store and then to the main exhibit which, other than the castle itself, is the Apocalypse Tapestry. (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapisserie_de_l%27Apocalypse) It was commissioned by Louis I, Duke of Anjou and brother of King Charles V, in 1375 and it was completed in 1382. For such a large work, (the tapestry is 100m long and 4.5m high, so lengthwise the size of an Olympic swimming pool) seven years is remarkably quick. It is the oldest tapestry of its size in existence today and it depicts scenes from Revelation. The craftsmanship is quite amazing and the scenes are beautifully done, though you can easily see that the tapestry has aged considerably. My personal favorite is the depiction of the dragon. We had to leave after that so I didn’t get a chance to check out the chapel or restaurant, but I can always visit later.



As for the castle’s history… The fortress was first built in the 13th century by regent Blanche of Castile, but it had been a look out post earlier (9th century) under the Anjou Plantagenets and the Romans before that. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_d) However, humans have been living at this site ever since the Neolithic period (4000 to 2500 B.C.). I’m sorry, but this information is just mind boggling to me. Before today, the oldest buildings I’d ever been in were four hundred years old. This particular castle has been around some 800 years!
And people have been living here far longer than that! Words wouldn’t do the castle justice so I just took lots of pictures.

Heidi

P.S. Favorite new French word is Le Pamplemousse (pronounced pomp-lay-moose), it means grapefruit.