The epic of Le Relais d’Amboise
two millennia of history

Just above Le Relais d’Amboise, atop the cliff, lies the oppidum of Les Châtelliers, already inhabited during the Bronze Age. This was the site of Ambacia, capital of the Turones, long before Tours—founded later by the Romans following their conquest. A major social and economic centre (hundreds of Turonian coins have been discovered there), the site was also deeply sacred to the Celts. Archaeological excavations have uncovered two remarkable seated statuettes, cross-legged, adorned with torques around the neck and in hand. One of them, dating from at least the 1st century BC, is the oldest known stone statuette in Celtic Gaul and may represent one of the earliest depictions of the god Cernunnos. A central figure of the Celtic pantheon until the 2nd century AD, he was the hedonistic god of abundance, animals, the cycle of the seasons, and nature, as well as the deity of the underworld. Interestingly, the Romans referred to him as Dis Pater—a name that, more than a millennium later, François I of France would also give to Leonardo da Vinci.

At the dawn of the Renaissance, the formidable medieval fortress of Amboise was transformed into a refined royal residence under the reigns of Kings Charles VIII of France and François I of France. With the exception of the Louvre, no other château hosted as many French kings.The first non-defensive château of the Loire Valley, it became a vibrant centre of power, welcoming not only the court but also extraordinary artists, engineers, and architects commissioned to bring ambitious projects to life. In 1516, François I invited Leonardo da Vinci from Milan to Amboise, where he spent his final years in peace at the Château du Clos Lucé. According to his wishes, he was laid to rest at the château, in the Chapel of Saint Hubert—a masterpiece for which he himself had sketched designs during his lifetime.

Born in 1416 in Calabria, Francis of Paola discovered his faith in adolescence, inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi. At the age of sixteen, he withdrew as a hermit into a cave on his family’s land, where he protected a fawn from hunters while becoming their spiritual guide. At nineteen, he founded the Order of the Minims—“the least among men”—guided by the principle of charity. He was soon credited with miraculous healings and extraordinary acts.In 1483, he was sent by the Pope to heal King Louis XI of France. On his journey, he stopped at the very site of today’s Relais d’Amboise, where he met the Dauphin and future king Charles VIII of France.In admiration of this humble and spiritual figure—known as “the Good Man”—Charles VIII granted him land and privileges, enabling him to build a new Minims convent here at the end of the 15th century.

The Maison du Duc takes its name from Étienne François, Duke of Choiseul, to whom the property was granted in the 18th century by King Louis XV of France.In 1750, he married Louise Honorine, a woman of letters—often compared to Madame de Sévigné—known for her wit and her patronage of the arts, herself from the distinguished Crozat family of great collectors.In 1761, this Minister of Finance and War—the most powerful man in France after the King—acquired the Château de Chanteloup, which he expanded and embellished with the help of his architect Louis-Denis Le Camus. During these grand works, he resided in this house.The estate, nicknamed the “Little Versailles,” featured vast gardens, water features, fountains, and an immense pagoda (curiously not Chinese in style). A decade later, when the Duke fell out of favour with the King, he withdrew to Chanteloup.