Château de Saché
Encyclopedia
The Château de Saché is a stately home built from the converted remains of a feudal castle
. It is situated in Saché
, Indre-et-Loire
, the heart of the French Touraine
, in the valley of the river Indre
. It was here, between 1830 and 1837, that the French writer Honoré de Balzac
wrote some of his finest works in the series La Comédie Humaine
, comprising nearly 90 novels, in which he attempted to reflect every aspect of French society at that time.
The château
was owned by Balzac's friend, Jean de Margonne, his mother's lover and the father of her youngest child. The writer would often spend long periods staying here, away from his turbulent life in Paris
, writing 14 to 16 hours a day. After supper he would sleep a few hours, wake around midnight and write until morning, sustained by large amounts of coffee.
Since 1951, the château has been open as an evocative museum dedicated to Balzac. Especially memorable is his small second-floor bedroom with its simple bed and writing desk where so many of his often tormented characters were conceived.
The château was built upon the foundations of a twelfth-century fortified house, of which a cylindrical tower and dry moats remain. The building was successively transformed in the 16th through 18th centuries. It has been listed as a monument historique
since June 1983 by the French Ministry of Culture.
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
. It is situated in Saché
Sache
Sache is the pronunciation for:* Saché, a character in the Star Wars series* Sač, a cooking utensil...
, Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.-History:Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
, the heart of the French Touraine
Touraine
The Touraine is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher and Indre.-Geography:...
, in the valley of the river Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
. It was here, between 1830 and 1837, that the French writer Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
wrote some of his finest works in the series La Comédie Humaine
La Comédie humaine
La Comédie humaine is the title of Honoré de Balzac's multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and stories depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy .-Overview:...
, comprising nearly 90 novels, in which he attempted to reflect every aspect of French society at that time.
The château
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
was owned by Balzac's friend, Jean de Margonne, his mother's lover and the father of her youngest child. The writer would often spend long periods staying here, away from his turbulent life in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, writing 14 to 16 hours a day. After supper he would sleep a few hours, wake around midnight and write until morning, sustained by large amounts of coffee.
Since 1951, the château has been open as an evocative museum dedicated to Balzac. Especially memorable is his small second-floor bedroom with its simple bed and writing desk where so many of his often tormented characters were conceived.
The château was built upon the foundations of a twelfth-century fortified house, of which a cylindrical tower and dry moats remain. The building was successively transformed in the 16th through 18th centuries. It has been listed as a monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
since June 1983 by the French Ministry of Culture.