Cher

Centre-Val de Loire

Château de Culan

Few French castles still have their wooden hoardings. Culan, a fortress of the Berry high above the Arnon River, keeps them on its round tower. Remodeled around 1450 for entertaining, on the model of Jacques Coeur's palace in Bourges, it lines up three square towers, three large staircases and…

Centre-Val de Loire

Château d’Ainay-le-Vieil

Bought in 1467 by the Chevenon de Bigny family, Ainay-le-Vieil has never left their descendants, and its salons trace French history through family marriages, from the Colberts to the duchesse de Tourzel. Behind nine towers and water-filled moats, this octagonal fortress in the Cher, never taken,…