Mantenon … This name first of all resurrects the memory of the Marquise de Mantenon, the famous last favorite of King “Sun” Louis XIV, who became his secret wife.
The daughter of a Protestant, born in prison, the widow of the scandalous poet and author of epigrams Scarron, this unusual woman achieved the highest position at court, winning the heart of the powerful king of his softness, tenderness and strength of character.
The King gave her this chateau in 1674 and in 1675 gave her the title of Madame de Maintenon. This remarkable woman rebuilds the estate and transforms the medieval chateau into an exquisite manoir – a small castle with turrets, a chamber courtyard, a high roof-roof and a park designed by the great landscape painter André Le Nôtre.
Madame de Maintenon was the tutor of the King’s children and his lover, Madame de Montespan. Two of Madame de Montespan’s children were even born in this castle.
The king often visited his children and paid more and more attention to the mistress of the estate.
In 1683, the Queen dies, Madame de Montenon moves to Versailles, secretly married to the king, and became his permanent companion and counselor for the last 30 years of the life of Louis XIV …
It is known that at the end of his life, the king happened to gather the Council of Ministers at his marital bed, behind the curtains of which waited for him Madame de Maintenon. After hearing the opinions of his advisers, the king said goodbye to them, climbed into bed and asked his wife who heard everything: “Well, what shall we do?”
Madame de Maintenon had no children, and after her death, the castle passed to her niece, who married a young man from one of the most famous families in France.
The chateau retains unique interiors of rooms from the era of the Sun King and interiors that tell the story of its mistress and her time.
When leaving the chateau into the park, a grandiose panorama opens up on the ruins of the aqueduct, a truly pharaonic creation of Louis XIV, who planned to pump water from the canal of the park to the fountains of Versailles. The plan was not realized, but the majestic arcades so organically blended into the landscape that the Marquise de Maintenon decided to leave them for the admiration of us, the descendants …
Peter the Great also came here to visit the already elderly Madame de Maintenon, as evidenced by one of the paintings…
