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France is world renowned for its famous chateaux’s and
palaces. In France you will find a big diversity of castles and palaces ranging from early
medieval fortifications to sumptuous rococo, baroque or renaissance palaces.
French castles and palaces are commonly
referred as chateau (chateaux for plural) in France. And in France there is no clear
distinction between a medieval defensive structure and a royal residential building. However
the word chateau has a broad meaning as in France the word also refers to smaller manor
houses.
Here, on EveryCastle we will not describe each
French chateau, but instead will make a selection about the most impressive
medieval castles and royal palaces. Some of the most well known medieval structures in France
are the ones in Mont Saint-Michel in Lower Normandy or in the fortified city of
Carcassonne.
When it comes to French Renaissance the most famous
buildings are found in the Loire Valley (Castles in Loiere Valley) in the Centre region of
France. The Château de Chenonceau is one of the prime example of
the French renaissance architecture in the Loire Valley along with the Château de Chambord which was built in the early 16th
century.
But probably the most well known French
palace is the Palace of Versailles, a fabulous example of a baroque
palace. The Versailles palace was also the residence of the famous Sun King, Louis
XIV.
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