Château d'Azay-le-Rideau

With the Middle Ages, the lords of Tours build a castle on an island in the medium of the Indre river to protect the passage from the road carrying out of Tours to Chinon.
Azay-le-Rideau is a small castle, charming and romantic. It is located in the Loire Valley, 15 miles southwest of Tours (and about 150 miles southwest of Paris). The strangely named castle of Azay-le-Rideau ("Azay-the-Curtain") represents one of the most successful examples of Italianate architecture in the Touraine region. Its unrivaled elegance and the richness of its furniture alone are worth the visit.

The elegant lines of Azay-le-Rideau, reflected in its wide moat, have been seen around the world, attracting millions of visitors. A masterpiece of the first French Renaissance period, Azay is, from some points of view, symbolically reminiscent of late 15th century medieval fortresses. The long low proportions and the sculptural decorations of Azay are Italianate, in the new antique taste, but the bastion corners capped by pointed cones, the vertical stacks of grouped windows separated by emphatic horizontal string courses, and the high sloped slate roof are unmistakably French. The playful fortifications and the medieval donjon towers gave an air of traditional nobility to the king's newly-ennobled treasurer.
The famous Renaissance castle is built on an island in the Loire tributary Indre. Azay-Le-Rideau was built by Gilles Berthelot (Treasurer of François I) between 1518 and 1527. Suspected of embezzlement by King François I, Gilles Berthelot was forced to flee from Azay-Le-Rideau, leaving the castle uncompleted behind him forever. He died a few years later whereas he was still in exile.