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France 3: "INSOLITE. With its 7 floors and 204 rooms, the "Loire Valley Giant" is the highest château in France".
At 50 metres high, Château de Brissac is the tallest château in France. It's a structure of exceptional dimensions, which the owner has lovingly restored to a human scale.
The unfinished residence of the Dukes of Brissac, built in the 11ᵉ century, Château de Brissac overlooks the Anjou countryside and astonishes with its exceptional dimensions. With its 7 storeys and 204 rooms, it is the tallest château in France. Despite its nickname, the "Colosse de Val-de-Loire", once inside, the château reveals warm, human-sized rooms.
La chambre bleue: for love, giving the château a human dimension
Living in the highest château in France is a privilege, but it can also be a challenge. Charles-Henri de Brissac, current owner of the château, understood this early on. Having fallen in love with a young dancer from the London Opera Ballet, he was apprehensive about introducing her to his unusual home. He feared that the sheer size of the château, coupled with the responsibilities it entailed, would frighten his companion. To reassure her, he decided to hold his first romantic get-togethers in the Blue Room, a human-sized room that he decorated himself from top to bottom.
Blue tapestries, comfortable furniture and a fireplace give this room a cozy, hushed atmosphere, far removed from the impression of cold grandeur one might associate with castles. The room, which he dedicated to her, seems to have been appreciated by his bride, who tells us the story from within its walls, after nearly 30 years of marriage.
Château de Brissac, cradle of artists
Ballet dancer and current owner Larissa de Brissac is not the first artist to have resided at the château.
Around the bend of a room reveals another gem: the Petit Théâtre. A veritable opera house that can accommodate the public, the room was built in the 19ᵉ century by Jeanne Say, Marquise de Brissac. A singer renowned throughout Paris, Jeanne Say entertained the crème de la crème of the artistic world at the Petit Théâtre, and often gave performances there herself.
Head of a large fortune from a sugar industry, she invested in the renovation and upkeep of the 11ᵉ century château, giving it some of its features still observable today.
Built and refurbished through the ages, France's tallest château has many stories, big and small, to discover in Château! By André Manoukian, Sunday at 12:55 pm and (re)watch on france.tv
Read the article on www.france3-regions.fr
Published on March 09, 2025
