Centre-Val de Loire · Indre-et-Loire, France

Château de Langeais

Two castles in one: the ruined stone keep of Foulques Nerra — among the oldest in France — and Louis XI's feudal-faced château of the 1460s. In its great hall on 6 December 1491, Charles VIII secretly married Anne of Brittany, the union that bound Brittany to France.

At a glance

Built: Keep c. 994; château rebuilt from 1465
Style: Late medieval royal château
Commissioned by: Louis XI
Signature feature: Working drawbridge and the wedding hall of 1491
The wedding: Charles VIII married Anne of Brittany here, uniting Brittany with France
The keep: Foulques Nerra's donjon (c. 994) — among France's oldest stone keeps
Ownership: Institut de France, by bequest of Jacques Siegfried (1904)
Visiting: Open to visitors year-round