Château de Cheverny
On Gingerguide's self-guided Loire Valley audio tour, Château de Cheverny is a stop worth about ~60 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type castle
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Loire Valley Loire Valley guide
About Château de Cheverny
A symmetrical seventeenth-century château, still owned and run by the same family, which Hergé used as the model for Captain Haddock's Marlinspike Hall in the beloved Tintin books.
Château de Cheverny is a Classical château built between about 1624 and 1630, near the town of Cheverny in the Loir-et-Cher. The design is attributed to Jacques Bougier, who trained in the workshop of Salomon de Brosse, and its symmetrical Louis XIII form recalls the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris. The château has remained in the same family, the Hurault line, across the centuries, and was one of the earliest French châteaux opened to the public, in 1914.
Its interiors are noted for lavish furnishings, tapestries and Old Master paintings, while the estate keeps a pack of around one hundred hunting hounds and still holds hunts. A permanent exhibition is devoted to the château's connection with Hergé's Tintin: Marlinspike Hall, or Moulinsart, is widely said to be based on Cheverny's central block. Set in formal gardens and parkland, it lies within the UNESCO-listed Loire Valley.
Did you know? Hergé is widely credited with modelling Marlinspike Hall, Captain Haddock's home in Tintin, on Cheverny. He used the central block but left out the two outermost wings, giving the fictional house a tidier front.
How much time do you need at Château de Cheverny?
Around ~60 min works well for Château de Cheverny — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at Château de Cheverny?
Yes — Château de Cheverny made the cut as one of 13 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Loire Valley. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Loire Valley
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about Château de Cheverny and read more:
Day 2 of the Loire Valley in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Château de Cheverny
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