Château du Touvet
Encyclopedia
Garden à la française
The French formal garden, also called jardin à la française, is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order over nature. It reached its apogee in the 17th century with the creation of the Gardens of Versailles, designed for Louis XIV by the landscape architect André Le...
and a water garden built in the 18th century, located between Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
and Chambéry
Chambéry
Chambéry is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made the city his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry...
in the Isére
Isère
Isère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...
Department of the Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes is one of the 27 regions of France, located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône River and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris...
Region of France. The gardens are classified among the notable gardens of France
Notable gardens of France
The Remarkable Gardens of France is intended to be a list and description, by region, of the over two hundred gardens classified as "Jardins remarquables" by the French Ministry of Culture and the Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France...
by the French Ministry of Culture. The chateau and gardens are privately owned, but open to the public.
Description
The 13th century castle has five towers, a moat and a drawbridge. Within the castle is the residence rebuilt in the 18th century, with the original furnishings and paneling.The 7-hectare garden features a stairway of water, using a hydraulic system built in the 18th century. The garden is made up of a series of terraces, with six parterres of broderies made of boxwood. It also has a small enclosed garden, called the jardin de la comtesse; a kitchen garden, and an alley of linden
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
trees.
History
The castle has been in the same family for five hundred years. It was originally built in the 13th century to guard the borders of France against the Dukes of SavoySavoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
. In the 18th century, Pierre de Marcieu, the Lieutenant-General and commander in chief of Dauphiné
Dauphiné
The Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....
, rebuilt the chateau and built the gardens around it. The water garden was created between 1758-1765.
Owners of the castle included Guigues Guiffrey, a member of the court of King Francis I
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
, and French Ambassador to the court of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
; and Nicolas Charles Oudinot, a Marshal of France serving under Napoleon Bonaparte. The castle is currently owned by Bruno and Isabelle de Quinsonas, descendants of the original owners.
