Château de Châteaudun, Châteaudun

The Château de Châteaudun rises from a rocky spur 60 metres above the Loir river, often called the "first of the Loire châteaux" because Jean de Dunois's 15th-century transformation here set the architectural direction later followed by the famous royal châteaux downstream. The site spans a thousand years of construction: a 12th-century circular keep standing 31 metres tall, a Gothic residential wing built by Jean de Dunois from 1451, and a Renaissance wing added by the Longueville family with a sculpted staircase decorated with angels and classical columns. The Sainte-Chapelle, completed in 1493 and granted its papal title in 1498, is one of only about twelve in all of France.