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Amboise: Clos Lucé Castle, Da Vinci Park and Museum Ticket
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In the royal city of Amboise, behind the imposing château of the same name, is the Manor of Clos Lucé, offered by François I to Leonardo da Vinci, the great Italian inventor, who was also a close friend of the King of France.
The Château du Clos Lucé, built in 1500 in Renaissance style, is located in the heart of the Loire Valley and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was home to Leonardo da Vinci for three years until his death on 2 May 1519.
Fifty years before its modernisation, the castle, then called Manoir du Cloux, was a fortified structure. Charles VIII bought the Chateau du Clos Lucé in 1490 and transformed it from a medieval fortress into a property more suitable as a summer residence for the kings of France. He also had a chapel built to accommodate the prayers of Queen Anne of Brittany.
It was King François I, Duke of Angouleme at the time, who invited the great artists and architects of the Renaissance period to the castle, including Leonardo da Vinci, who settled permanently in the castle. It is said that the great inventor crossed the Alps on a mule, taking with him some of his greatest works of art such as the Mona Lisa and St. John the Baptist.
With the death of Leonardo da Vinco, the glory days ended for the Chateau du Clos Lucé, which only survived due to the intervention of the d’Amboise family who saved it from damage during the French Revolution. Restoration work has been carried out over the past 50 years, and substantial parts of the building have been restored to its original appearance at the time of Leonardo da Vinci.
The castle is surrounded by 7 hectares of parkland crossed by a river, the Amasse. This park is an initiatory journey into the world of the famous Leonardo da Vinci. One of the special features is certainly the set of 3D animations, which allow a better understanding of the workings of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions. IBM has in fact produced 6 3D animations and 40 models illustrating the diversity of the artist’s inventions: plane, tank, car, helicopter.
The entire exhibition found its source in Leonardo da Vinci’s original drawings. It is made from the materials of the time, which further enhances its uniqueness. Part of this exhibition takes place in the park: you can admire a helicopter, an assault tank and a revolving bridge, to name but a few. In addition, some 40 giant inventions are on display, revealing the different facets of Leonardo da Vinci’s work.
Since the 1960s, a major interior and exterior restoration project has been underway to restore this superb mansion to its Renaissance appearance: thus the great council chamber, the kitchen, the bedroom but also the rooms in the basement, the forty machines imagined by Leonardo da Vinci, the chapel and its frescoes have regained their original appearance.
Unlike other imposing châteaux in the Loire Valley, note that Clos Lucé is more like a large manor house.
A visit to Clos Lucé can be divided into three separate parts: the first is the house itself, a red brick building with stone details. Inside, a number of important rooms have been restored, including the kitchens, the Council Chamber, the bedrooms of Margaret of Navarre and Leonard, as well as the stones and frescoes in Queen Anne’s chapel.
The second part of the tour is the underground rooms of the castle, where detailed reconstructions of 40 of Leonardo’s inventions can now be seen. Many of them were ideas that the Italian genius had centuries before they were built, such as a flying machine, a machine gun and an automobile.
The third part of the visit covers the gardens and park surrounding the castle. These form an important section of the visit and are very extensive. They include many other recreations of Leonardo da Vinci’s ideas such as a two-level bridge, some of his works presented in a wooded setting, a large natural marsh garden called Leonardo’s Garden and a navigable pond.
The Château du Clos Lucé – Parc Leonardo da Vinci is open every day except 25 December and 1 January with the ticket office closing one hour before the actual closing time of the park.
A visit brochure is available in 5 languages (French, English, Italian, Spanish, German) and is distributed free of charge at the ticket office. In the park, 8 sound terminals reproduce Leonardo da Vinci’s thoughts in French, English, Italian and German.
The recommended visit time is approximately 3 hours for the castle, park and galleries Leonardo da Vinci painter and architect.
Just a few minutes from the chateau, we recommend a visit to the town of Amboise, famous for its imposing Château d’Amboise, one of the most important châteaux in the Loire Valley, with splendid views over the town and its enchanting gardens, as well as being the burial place of Leonardo da Vinci.
Near the Chateau du Clos Lucé, you can visit another manor house, the Domaine Royal de Château Gaillard, where King Charles VIII created France’s first Renaissance-style gardens, which have now been restored to their original style.
As the manor is located a short distance from the centre of Amboise, we recommend seeking accommodation in the lively town, which is also perfect as a base for exploring the surroundings.
The Manor of Clos Lucé is about a 2-hour drive from Paris, which can be reached after hiring a car and landing at Charles de Gaulle or Orly airports. Please note that a private car park is available for a fee, located on rue du Clos Lucé, a 300-metre walk from the main entrance and opposite the secondary entrance.
Alternatively, you can reach the Manor using the train connections: from Paris Montparnasse station, you can reach St Pierre-des-Corps in 55 minutes by TGV. The station is 20 km from Amboise. Or from Paris Austerlitz, you can reach Amboise in 2 hours: the TER – Centre Val de Loire d’ Amboise station is 2 km from Clos Lucé. Throughout the year, a bus service connects the station to the town centre of Amboise.
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