Château de Courances, Courances

The Château de Courances is a privately owned 17th-century Louis XIII-style château set within 86 hectares of parkland in the Essonne department, about 47 km south of Paris. The estate draws its name from "eaux courantes" (running waters) — 14 natural springs feed 17 interconnected pools, basins, and canals, all operating entirely by gravity without mechanical pumps. The park combines three distinct garden traditions: a rare Renaissance water garden dating to the 16th century, a classical French formal garden redesigned by landscape architects Henri and Achille Duchêne, and a Japanese garden planted in the early 1900s.