schiller-wine: Visiting Château Royale d’Amboise and the Burial Place of Leonardo da Vinci

The Loire Tour 2025 by ombiasy WineTours took place from Sunday, October 5 to Thursday, October 16, 2025. The tour started in Nantes and ended in Sancerre, with a bus transfer and lunch in Paris. There were 9 of us including Annette and myself.

Following:

Guided Visit of Château du Clos Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci lived and died, in Amboise - Loire Valley 2025 by ombiasy WineTours

With a Large Cheese Cart and Soufflé Flambé au Cognac: 5-course Menu Inspiration - Leisurely Sunday Lunch at Restaurant La Croix Blanche on the Banks of the Loire between Amboise and Blois, with Owner/ Chef Jean-François Beauduin (Bib Gourmand Michelin) - Loire Valley 2025 by ombiasy WineTours

we went back to Amboise for a visit of the Château Royale d’Amboise and the Burial Place of Leonardo da Vinci.

Loire 2025 by ombiasy WineTours led by Annette Schiller

Annette Schiller in her announcement: What comes to your mind when you hear ‘Loire Valley’? Of course images of glorious Châteaux pop up in your mind. Yes that is true and we will visit some iconic château and dig deep into France’s history. However, during this wine tour we also discover a magnificent, but often overlooked French wine region and one of the most exciting best kept secrets of excellent, high quality wines at very reasonable prices. The Loire Valley wine region is a vast area and consists of several distinct wine regions, each with its own characteristic grapes, appellations, and wine style. We take you on a journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Auvergne mountains to explore this unique region. We learn to appreciate “Sancerre”, "Pouilly-Fumé", “Vouvray", “Chinon”, as well as many other not so familiar appellations.

Château Royale d’Amboise and the Burial Place of Leonardo da Vinci (ombiasy WineTours)

The impressive Château Royal d’Amboise is regarded as the cradle of the Renaissance in France and French history was written here for over a century. Five kings of France resided in the Château d’Amboise. Under King Charles III. and his wife Anne of Brittany, Italian splendor and enlightened thinking unfolded here. The metamorphosis from a feudal fortress to a Renaissance palace dates back to this era and the triumpf of the Renaissance began here.

Much later, in 1560 during the religious wars an unimaginably horrific bloodbath that lasted several days occurred at the château when Catholics brutally killed hundreds of Protestants.

Worth visiting is the richly decorated jewel from the Gothic period, the St.-Hubert chapel, on the castle grounds. This is the burial site of Leonardo da Vinci.

Château Royale d’Amboise (Lonely Planet)

Perched atop a rocky escarpment above town, Amboise's castle was a favoured retreat for all of France's Valois and Bourbon kings. Only a few of the château's original structures survive, but you can still visit the furnished Logis (Lodge) – Gothic except for the top half of one wing, which is Renaissance – and the Flamboyant Gothic Chapelle St-Hubert (1493), where Leonardo da Vinci's presumed remains have been buried since 1863. The ramparts afford thrilling views of the town and river.

Charles VIII (r 1483–98), born and bred here, renovated parts in the radical new Renaissance style, so recently imported from Italy. In 1560, an unsuccessful attempt by Huguenots to seize power from the ultra-Catholic Guise faction was brutally suppressed, with 1200 summary executions and rebel corpses hung on hooks from the château's façade. The defeated Algerian anti-colonial leader Abd el-Kader was imprisoned here with a large entourage from 1848 to 1852.

Arriving