Château de Montsoreau
| Château de Montsoreau | |
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View from the Loire of the Château de Montsoreau
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 Location of the Château de Montsoreau
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | French Renaissance |
| Location | Montsoreau, France |
| Address | Château de Montsoreau, 49730 Montsoreau, France |
| Coordinates | 47°12′56″N 0°03′44″E / 47.2156°N 0.0622°ECoordinates: 47°12′56″N 0°03′44″E / 47.2156°N 0.0622°E |
| Current tenants | Philippe Méaille |
| Construction started | 1443 |
| Completed | 1515 |
| Height | 45m |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Unknown |
| Website | |
| Official site of Château de Montsoreau | |
| Official name | The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i,ii,iv |
| Designated | 2000 (24th session) |
| Reference no. | 933 |
| State Party | France |
| Region | Central France |
The Château de Montsoreau is a Renaissance style castle in the Loire Valley, directly built in the Loire riverbed. It is located in the small market town of Montsoreau, in the Maine-et-Loire département of France, in close proximity to Saumur, Chinon, Fontevraud-L'abbaye et Candes-Saint-Martin. The château de Montsoreau has an exceptional position at the confluence of two rivers, the Loire and the Vienne, and at the meeting point of three historic regions: Anjou, Poitou and Touraine. It is the only château of the Loire Valley to have been built directly in the Loire riverbed.
A Gallo-Roman origin has been verified for the settlement of Montsoreau but not confirmed for the castle, even though a fluted column made of stone from a Gallo-Roman temple or a public building was found in the moat during the restoration works of the end of the 20th century. The first written sources are from the 6th century with the domain of Restis, but it is only with the construction of a fortress at the end of the 10th century that the market town began to become prosperous. One part of this first castle was found during the same restoration works by the archaeologists. The castle was reconstructed in a Renaissance style between 1450 and 1460 by Jean de Chambes, one of the kingdom's wealthiest men, a senior councillor and chamberlain to King Charles VII and to King Louis XI.
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