Menetou-Salon
Encyclopedia
Menetou-Salon is a commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Cher department in the Centre region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

 of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. Inhabitants of the area are known as Monestrosaloniens.

Geography

The commune is located 16 kilometres North of Bourges
Bourges
Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...

 on the RD11.
Directions: the RD940 Bourges / Montargis / Paris Autoroute A71 Paris / Clermont-Ferrand, take the Bourges exit. S.N.C.F Bourges train station

Administration

Table of successive mayors
Period in office Name Party Occupation
March 2008 Pierre Fouchet
March 2001 March 2008 Bernard Remangeon

Wine

Menetou-Salon is the name of an Appellation d'origine contrôlée
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...

for wine (AOC), with vineyards extending over 330 hectares (815.4 acre) over the hill. This appellation covers an area of 10 communes, one of which is Menetou-Salon itself. Menetou-Salon is an ancient wine-producing area if old writings and documents about the seigniory and lordship of Menetou are to be believed.
Documents from the years 1063, 1097 at 1100 have been recovered, where the Lord of Menetou gave a donation to different religious orders in the region, most particularly to the Saint-Sulpice-lès-Bourges Abbey, with vines located close to Davet.
In 1190, Hugues de Vèvre, Lord of Menetou-Salon, also yielded the grounds and vines at the Loroy Abbey. Finally, the old writings relating to the wine of the Menetou-Salon vineyard, which is one of the most beautiful adornments of the stately table of silversmith Jacques Coeur, acquired by the seigniory of Menetou in 1450. They even say that Agnès Sorel, when she came to rest under the old limetree which is still standing near the chateau to this day, particularly appreciated the wine of « Clos de la Dame ».

Monuments

The Menetou-Salon Château, was extended by Ernest Sanson
Ernest Sanson
Paul Ernest Sanson was a French architect trained in the Beaux-Arts manner.Sanson entered the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris at the age of eighteen, and followed the courses offered by Émile Gilbert...

 for the prince and princess Auguste-Louis-Albéric, prince d'Arenberg (1884-1890)
The château, a masterpiece of neo-gothic architecture, provides extra income as an historical monument, having belonged to Jacques Coeur in 1448, of which the Palace inspired its expansion. It gives its visitors the chance to admire its historical interior which has been beautifully conserved as a stately residence of the 20th century. There, you can also find ceremonial saddlery, a neo-gothic, labyrinth garden as well as horse-drawn carriages and automobiles used by the Princes of Arenberg up until the Second World War, when a prince used one of the vehicles to travel from Paris to Moscow twice, once in 1911 and then in 1968, and again in 1994, when the Channel Tunnel was opened.
The current château is an example of five centuries worth of construction dating from the 14th century up until 1888 when major modifications turned it into a grandiose residence inhabited by the actual proprietor, Altesse Sérénissime, the 5th French Prince and Duke of Arenberg.
Completely furnished, the Menetou Château has some beautiful features, such as a library with 12 000 books, a hall decorated like a chapter house from an abbey, one of Jacques Coeur’s travel chests and cloths from a Flemish school. The place serves as a reminder of the great nobleman, Auguste of Arenberg, who began the major renovations of the château in the 19th century.
The Chateau in Menetou-Salon is a stop on the Route Jacques-Coeur, a tour of various French historic sites.
The Chateau still belongs to the Arenberg family.

External links

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