This very well-preserved castle , a superb example of Renaissance architecture, was built in the 16th century by Sebastiano Serlio, the Italian architect to Francis I.
Located in the municipality of Ancy-le-Franc in Yonne, Burgundy, this quadrilateral building of elegant proportions sits within a vast park of 50 hectares. It is open to individual visitors from the end of March to mid-November, and to groups all year round by reservation.
Listed as a Historic Monument, this Renaissance gem is designed to resemble an Italian palace, with four residential buildings arranged around an elegant square courtyard, and a two-storey pavilion at each of its corners.
The decoration of the galleries and apartments is remarkable: on the ground floor are rooms with Pompeian motifs, and Diane's Room, with beautiful painted decorations. Upstairs are ceremonial galleries with mythological and classical scenes, polychrome coffered ceilings, marble floors, superb, finely carved woodwork and more. The Gallery of Pharsalus, with its exceptional mural, is one of the masterpieces on the "aristocratic" upper floor. Ancy-le-Franc Castle has the distinction of housing one of the largest collections of 16th and 17th-century murals in France! Great artists from the Fontainebleau School, such as Francesco Primaticcio, Nicolò dell'Abbate and Nicolas van Houy, along with Burgundian and Flemish painters, contributed to decorating the apartments.
Ideal for strolling, the castle park is a superb place to walk, with its French formal parterres designed by Le Nôtre, and its English-style garden where an 18th-century folly stands in the middle of a romantic pond.
From May to October, once a month, the castle hosts Musicancy, an original concept that combines castle visits with concerts.
