Commune in Centre-Val de Loire, France
Amboise
(
;
[3]
French:
[??bwaz]
ⓘ
) is a
commune
in the
Indre-et-Loire
department
in central
France
. Today a small
market town
, it was once home of the French royal court.
Geography
[
edit
]
Amboise lies on the banks of the river
Loire
, 27 kilometres (17 mi) east of
Tours
. It is also about 18 kilometres (11 mi) away from the historic
Chateau de Chenonceau
, situated on the river
Cher
near the small village of
Chenonceaux
.
Amboise station
, on the north bank of the Loire, has rail connections to Orleans, Blois and Tours.
History
[
edit
]
Clovis I
(
c.
466 ? 511) and the
Visigoths
signed a peace treaty of alliance with the
Arvernians
in 503, which assisted him in his defeat of the Visigothic kingdom in the
Battle of Vouille
in 507.
Joan of Arc
passed through in 1429 on her way to Orleans to the
Battle of Patay
.
Chateau du
Clos Luce
was the residence of Leonardo da Vinci between 1516 and his death in 1519. Da Vinci died in the arms of King Francis I,
[4]
and he was buried in a crypt near the
Chateau d'Amboise
. The house has lost some of its original parts, but it still stands today containing a museum of da Vinci's work and inventions, and overlooks the river
Loire
.
The
Amboise conspiracy
was the conspiracy of
Conde
and the
Huguenots
in 1560 against
Francis II
,
Catherine de' Medici
and the
Guises
.
The
Chateau
at Amboise was home to
Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots
, for much of her early life, being raised there at the French court of
Henry II
. She arrived in France from Scotland in 1548, aged six, via the French king's favourite palace at
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
near Paris, and remained in France until 1561, when she returned to her homeland?sailing up the
Firth of Forth
to
Edinburgh
on 15 August that year.
The
Edict of Amboise
(1563) conceded the free exercise of worship to the Protestants.
Here was born in 1743
Louis Claude de Saint-Martin
, French philosopher, known as
Le Philosophe Inconnu
(d. 1803).
Abd el Kader Ibn Mouhi Ad-Din
(c. 1807 ? 1883) was imprisoned at the
Chateau d'Amboise
.
In 2019, the 500th anniversary of da Vinci's death, Amboise held many events celebrating the master's life and his work completed in the town.
[5]
The number of visitors to Chateau du Clos Luce, for example, was estimated as 500,000 in 2019, a 30% increase over the typical annual number.
[6]
Population
[
edit
]
Historical population
Year
| Pop.
| ±% p.a.
|
---|
1793
| 5,659
| ?
|
---|
1800
| 5,113
| ?1.44%
|
---|
1806
| 5,097
| ?0.05%
|
---|
1821
| 5,276
| +0.23%
|
---|
1831
| 4,613
| ?1.33%
|
---|
1836
| 4,695
| +0.35%
|
---|
1841
| 4,715
| +0.09%
|
---|
1846
| 4,956
| +1.00%
|
---|
1851
| 4,762
| ?0.80%
|
---|
1856
| 4,433
| ?1.42%
|
---|
1861
| 4,570
| +0.61%
|
---|
1866
| 4,188
| ?1.73%
|
---|
1872
| 4,216
| +0.11%
|
---|
1876
| 4,475
| +1.50%
|
---|
1881
| 4,167
| ?1.42%
|
---|
1886
| 4,592
| +1.96%
|
---|
1891
| 4,480
| ?0.49%
|
---|
1896
| 4,463
| ?0.08%
|
---|
| Year
| Pop.
| ±% p.a.
|
---|
1901
| 4,538
| +0.33%
|
---|
1906
| 4,731
| +0.84%
|
---|
1911
| 4,660
| ?0.30%
|
---|
1921
| 4,625
| ?0.08%
|
---|
1926
| 4,483
| ?0.62%
|
---|
1931
| 4,129
| ?1.63%
|
---|
1936
| 4,236
| +0.51%
|
---|
1946
| 4,443
| +0.48%
|
---|
1954
| 6,736
| +5.34%
|
---|
1962
| 7,953
| +2.10%
|
---|
1968
| 8,625
| +1.36%
|
---|
1975
| 10,680
| +3.10%
|
---|
1982
| 10,857
| +0.24%
|
---|
1990
| 10,982
| +0.14%
|
---|
1999
| 11,457
| +0.47%
|
---|
2007
| 12,589
| +1.18%
|
---|
2012
| 13,157
| +0.89%
|
---|
2017
| 12,610
| ?0.85%
|
---|
|
|
Source: EHESS
[7]
and INSEE (1968-2017)
[8]
|
Sights
[
edit
]
The city is known for the
Clos Luce
manor house where
Leonardo da Vinci
lived (and ultimately died) at the invitation of King
Francis I of France
, whose
Chateau d'Amboise
, which dominates the town, is located just 500 m (1,640 feet) away. The narrow streets contain some good examples of
timbered housing
.
Just outside the city is the
Pagode de Chanteloup
, a 44-metre-tall (144 ft) Chinese
pagoda
built in 1775 by the
Duke of Choiseul
. The pagoda is seven levels high, with each level slightly smaller than the last one. An interior staircase to reach all levels is open to the public.
The Musee de la Poste (in the Hotel Joyeuse) is a museum tracing the history of the postal delivery service.
A 20th-century fountain by
Max Ernst
stands in front of the market place.
Economy
[
edit
]
Amboise has a thriving tourism-related business community.
[9]
[10]
[11]
Until 2021, it had also the headquarters of
Mecachrome
, a precision engineering company that operates in the aerospace, motor racing, energy and defence sectors.
[12]
International relations
[
edit
]
Amboise is
twinned
with:
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Amboise viewed from the
Chateau d'Amboise
-
Chateau d'Amboise
-
Tour de l'Horloge (the Clock Tower)
-
Exterior shot of the Clos Luce Mansion
-
Chateau d'Amboise over Loire
-
Amboise (cityview from the castle)
-
Pagode de Chanteloup, built in 1775 by the Duke of Choiseul
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for
Amboise
.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Amboise
.
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Geographic
| |
---|