The castle of Le Lude overhangs laughing it valley of the Loir of its four powerful round towers. In spite of the apparent regularity of its plan in quadrilateral, the castle knew several successive states and of many modifications which even made swivel its orientation of 180° at the XVIII century.

In the 10th century, the primitive fortress, "the castellum Lusdi" belong to the counts of Anjou. Because of its position, it is used to defend Anjou against the incursions of Norman, then of the English during the 100 years war. It is at the 13th century, that a new fortress raises its six turns close to the primitive castle. It belongs to Vendôme in 1378. Taken by the English in 1419, it is delivered by Gilles de Rais, legendary Barbe Blue, in 1427, at the end of a victorious combat. Gilles de Rais takes again the place before joining Jeanne d' Arc in Orleans. There remain some vestiges of this fortress in the north-eastern tower and the basements.

Twenty years later, the great military family of Daillon appears.

The Daillon.

The chamberlain and friend of childhood of Louis XI, Jehan de Daillon born in Bourges in 1423, takes possession of the field of Lude in 1447. The field will remain in his family until 1685.
Jehan de Daillon joins, in 1453, with the person of Charles VII after having given up the party of the Dolphin, the future Louis XI. But, this one become king, Jehan de Daillon had to take refuge in a cave of the valley of Maulne to escape from the royal ire: it would have lived 7 years there. Louis XI granted finally his forgiveness to him and Daillon arrived at the highest destinies: Chamberlain of the king.
From 1456, Jehan de Daillon transforms the fortress into an elegant residence of pleasure, that his descendants will embellish during 2 centuries. We owes them the Renaissance frontage of Italian style and the main courtyard to the marble plates.
With the service of the king Louis XI, Jehan de Daillon is also in relation to the entourage of king Rene and entrusts the rebuilding of the castle to Jean Gendrot, master mason of the duke of Anjou, which has the "load of works of the lord of Lude". To this period primarily the northern wing altered goes back thereafter.

Jehan de Daillon, then governor of Dauphiné, dies in 1482. Lude returns to his son Jacques, who fought in the wars of Italy. Jacques de Daillon continues work in the northern main building and in the north-eastern tower, and he raises another main building and two turns in the south, where the new decorative repertory appears. It is necessary to imagine the Renaissance castle directed differently, with a general plan out of U, laid out around a court in the shape of trapezoid, simply closed in the east by a surrounding wall. This side and downwards, was a forecourt, whose each side wing ended in a tower.
The defensive system is purely decorative, so much with the north-eastern tower where the covered way is too narrow to be effective, which in the southern turns where a double attic window stops the decorative machicolation. A Gothic rubble filling, characteristic of the XV century end, decorates the parapet of the north-eastern tower, while that of the southern turns receives medallions which make echo with those of the frontage. The southern frontage belongs mainly to XVI century, with however some modifications and restorations of the XVIII and XIX centuries. It is entirely squared by the pilasters which border the halls and by the horizontal bodies of mouldings. Enormous medallions occupy the piers. This organization with colossal impression is prolonged in the two turns, where the medallions are not placed in the center of the piers but are brought closer the window, to appear of face. The stylistic progression indicates that one began work with the right hall of the frontage. Indeed, on the right, the capitals of the pilasters still have a very compact form, a little separation marked between the trencher and the basket and of the figures of angle little overflowing, according to a manner which flowers around 1510. Moreover, all the windows of the hall are crowned of a pediment with shell which occupies the barge of the window placed above, as in the way in châtelet of Gaillon soon before 1510. In the central hall and the halls of the turns, the capitals are stretched in width, with a trencher more developed and figures of angle which spout out out of the basket, and the pediments with shell are limited to the attic windows, as many signs which show a more advanced style. Finally in the left hall, the capitals are clearly articulated in-depth with a definitely dissociated basket of the trencher, such as one meets them in the years 1520-1530. The sculpture is refined, with rinceaux the finer and more highly-strung person in the hall of left.
In first quarter of the XVII century , around the broad ditches, the old fortified town is razed for the installation of a large terrace bordered of an elegant stone balustrade on more than 200 m. At that time, one regularizes court on the one hand one doubles main building western, which locks up the old tower of staircase out-work which overflowed in the south-western angle, on the other hand one reduces the thickness of the northern wall.

Modifications of the architect Barré.

In 1751, Lude becomes the property of Joseph Duvelaër, chief of the Council of the Company of the Indies. His niece, the Marchioness of Vieuville, makes begin a new campaign from work. This one is carried out under the direction of the architect Barré who illustrated himself a few years earlier with Montgeoffroy. Barré removes before court, replaces the western main building by the current gantry and builds the traditional wing of style Louis XVI. He thus gives a new orientation to the castle.
In the east, Barré mask turns by side houses whose roofs are higher than that of the central house, which appears all the more lowered since it is crowned of a flattened pediment. The tripartite composition of the frontage, with strong side houses, curiously gives to the Eastern wing a pace a few archaïsante which avoids the architectural rupture with the elevation of the court carried out at the XVII century.

Revolution at our days

The Marchioness of Vieuville defends the Castle during the Revolution. Her descendants, Talhouët-Roy, will undertake throughout XIX century of vast work of restoration.
For 250 years in the same family, Lude is today the property of the Count and the Countess Louis-Jean de Nicolaÿ, who continue the tradition of restoration and embellishment, in particular by the creation of new gardens.
The richness and the diversity of the styles which characterize the Castle of Lude also find in interior decoration and its furniture.
The apartments offer the intimacy and the life of the inhabited residences. We can still see in the south-eastern tower a remarkable cabinet of paintings, realized by the School of Raphaël for the Duchess of Lude. This cabinet was ordered in the years 1560 per Guy de Daillon. It is a single example of an Italian studiolo in a French castle. A decoration the grotesque ones covers the vaults while histories panels decorate the walls. This part was reduced by a third approximately at the XVIII century end, also the decoration of the new western wall dates of the XIX century.
With the basement, the old arched kitchens are in service since XV century, while the commun runs shelter the stables and the attic with corn equipped with a remarkable frame.
The historical park of Lude extends on several levels between the Castle and the course of the Dormouse, It is decorated beautiful vases of marble of the 18th century. and of a remarkable group of the 17th century, out of white marble, Hercules and Antée.
The low gardens, along the river, accomodate in the beginning the kitchen garden, before being transformed at the XIXth century by Edouard André into formal garden. Floors of flowers and basins follow one another, while a collection of shrubs with scented flowering (chimonanthus, lilac, seringats, calycanthus...) underlines the wall. At the same time, the vast meadows which extend on opposite bank are arranged in " park agricole ".
The garden of the source makes the transition with the wooded park. Hardy perennials of spring (hellébores, euphorbiums, hosta...) surround the elements of rubble built at the XIXth century: kiosk, cave and landing stage.
The kitchen garden of 2 hectares is drawn by Edouard André in 1880. Comprising several greenhouses, an orangery, seedbeds, it is always of use today. Alignments of fruit trees, flowers and vegetables rare occupy the 3 terraces which make it up.
Lastly, the garden of the spur, redrawn in 1997, extends to the feet from the frontage Louis XVI. The hedges of cut yews underline the influence of the fortress and frame a boxwood labyrinth and a rosery. One finds there a collection of Chinese pinks, tea and hybrids of tea, such as ' Mutabilis', ' Old Blush', ' Louis XIV', ' Irene Watts'.

House of the Architects.

Close to the entry of the castle, this elegant Renaissance dwelling (occupied by the post office) would have been built by the project superintendents who worked with the François 1st wing of the castle.

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