Le Roi du Château
NotebookENFRDE
The directory of European châteaux

Every château, documented.

Location, century, style, protection status and visiting information for 13,289 châteaux and manor houses — drawn from public heritage records, held in one consistent archive.

Open the directoryRead the Journal
13,289
Records published
12
Countries
161
Regions covered
V–XXI
Centuries spanned
III
Public sources

Domaine de Chenonceau · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

01

Explore a château

Six thousand records is a great deal to face with a search box. Three ways in that ask nothing of you first.

01Take me to a châteauOne record, drawn at random from the archive.02Châteaux near youOrdered by distance, once you share your location.03Open the mapNinety-six departments, tinted by how much is recorded.
02

The Collection

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Twelve of the buildings that define the type — and the way every one of the 13,289 records is put together.

Centre-Val de Loire — XVI–XVII

Château de Blois

Château de Blois is a château at Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, in France.

BloisClassé
Nouvelle-Aquitaine — XVII

Château de Hautefort

Château de Hautefort is a château at Hautefort, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in France.

HautefortClassé
Centre-Val de Loire — XVII–XIX

Château de Cheverny

Château de Cheverny is a château at Cheverny, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, in France.

ChevernyClassé
Centre-Val de Loire — XV–XVI

Domaine de Chenonceau

Domaine de Chenonceau is a château at Chenonceaux, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, in France.

ChenonceauxClassé
Centre-Val de Loire — XIV–XX

Château de Villandry

Château de Villandry is a château at Villandry, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, in France.

VillandryClassé
Nouvelle-Aquitaine — XII–XVII

Château de Beynac

Château de Beynac is a château at Beynac-et-Cazenac, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in France.

Beynac-et-CazenacClassé
Hauts-de-France — XVI–XIX

Domaine de Chantilly

Domaine de Chantilly is a château at Chantilly, Oise, Hauts-de-France, in France.

ChantillyClassé
Centre-Val de Loire — XVI–XIX

Château d’Azay-le-Rideau

Château d’Azay-le-Rideau is a château at Azay-le-Rideau, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, in France.

Azay-le-RideauClassé
03

Itineraries

All itineraries

Châteaux rarely stand alone. These routes group the records that lie closest together, so a day out can take in more than one — with the distances between them and, where it exists, the château's own website for opening times.

016 châteaux around Beynac-et-CazenacNouvelle-Aquitaine · 6 stops27 km026 châteaux around OrschwillerGrand Est · 6 stops36 km036 châteaux around Soultz-Haut-RhinGrand Est · 6 stops44 km046 châteaux around ChantillyHauts-de-France · 6 stops46 km056 châteaux around Allemagne-en-ProvenceProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur · 6 stops49 km
04

Regions

13,289 records
01Nouvelle-Aquitaine1,10002Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes86403Normandy74704Catalonia70805Occitanie70606Centre-Val de Loire58207Bourgogne-Franche-Comté55808Pays de la Loire50009Brittany41410Emilia-Romagna40111Saxony40112Grand Est39913England38414Hauts-de-France35815Île-de-France26516Oost-Vlaanderen20517Vlaams-Brabant17018Scotland16219Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur16020Gelderland13921Antwerpen13622West-Vlaanderen12523Utrecht11824Limburg11625Liguria10626Valencian Community10427Wales10028Rhineland-Palatinate9729Limburg9430Brandenburg6831Basque Country6832Zuid-Holland6433Aragon5534Noord-Holland5535Overijssel5536Lower Saxony5237Noord-Brabant5038Lombardy4939Aargau4740Bavaria4741Saxony-Anhalt4342Thuringia3643Vaud3644Lower Austria3545Trentino-South Tyrol3446Berlin3247Tyrol3248Tuscany3049Castile and Leon2950Thurgau2851Sicily2652Piedmont2553St. Gallen2354Upper Austria2255Andalusia2156Basel-Landschaft2157North Rhine-Westphalia2158Bern2059Carinthia1960Abruzzo1861Fribourg1862Northern Ireland1863Drenthe1764Umbria1765Salzburg1766Schwyz1767Aosta Valley1768Zeeland1769Fryslân1670Groningen1671Marche1672Styria1673Campania1574Schleswig-Holstein1575Vorarlberg1576Zurich1577Apulia1478Baden-Wurttemberg1279Madeira1280Veneto1281Corsica1082Porto1083Galicia1084Valais1085Vienna1086Calabria987Portalegre988Évora989Lazio990Mecklenburg-Vorpommern991Community of Madrid892Canary Islands893Region of Murcia894Saarland895Schaffhausen896Faro797Mersch798Solothurn799Lisbon6100Hamburg6101Ticino6102Burgenland5103Geneva5104Hesse5105Neuchatel5106Santarém5107Appenzell Ausserrhoden4108Asturias4109Basel-Stadt4110Beja4111Esch-sur-Alzette4112Leiria4113Luxembourg4114Obwalden4115Sardinia4116Uri4117Basilicata3118Braga3119Cantabria3120Diekirch3121Echternach3122Extremadura3123Guarda3124Balearic Islands3125Jura3126Lucerne3127Zug3128Appenzell Innerrhoden2129Bragança2130Capellen2131Castelo Branco2132Clervaux2133Coimbra2134Viana do Castelo2135Grevenmacher2136Limerick2137Navarre2138Remich2139Tipperary2140Wiltz2141Azores1142Carlow1143Cavan1144Clare1145Cork1146Aveiro1147Donegal1148Galway1149Glarus1150Kerry1151Kildare1152Réunion1153Bremen1154Leitrim1155Martinique1156Meath1157Redange1158Setúbal1159Sligo1160Vianden1161Viseu1
05

Centuries

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V1VI3VII8VIII13IX38X143XI474XII1,018XIII1,280XIV1,296XV2,189XVI2,961XVII3,181XVIII3,591XIX3,188XX953XXI16
06

Journal

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How to look at a château — construction, materials and protection, explained in general terms and never about one particular building.

01How to read a French heritage recordSources02How to read a slate roof from the groundRestoration03Tuffeau, granite, brick: the stones of French châteaux and how they ageMaterials04Classé or inscrit: what French monument protection actually meansProtection
07

Le Marché du Château

An advertisement may point at an archive record, never the other way round. A château does not leave the archive because nobody advertises it, and it does not gain a line in its record because somebody does. Nothing on this page changes what the register says.

01Le Cercle du ChâteauThe people who keep historic estates standing: architects of the patrimoine, restoration contractors, stonemasons, roofers, and the advisers around them. A paid directory, kept apart from the archive.02Le Marché du ChâteauAdvertisements placed by owners, operators and agents: estates for sale, châteaux that receive guests. Separate from the archive, and marked as advertising on every page.