Chaumont-sur-Loire

Chaumont-Sur-Loire, situated on the banks of the Loire, covers an area of 2684 hectares. At last count, we had a population of 1089.
On January 1, 2012, the commune of Chaumont-sur-Loire became part of AGGLOPOLYS (Blois agglomeration community).

The village of Chaumont-sur-Loire stretches for 2 km along the main road, bordered on one side by the Loire and on the other by the hillside. New housing has been built on the plateau.
The village of Chaumont-Sur-Loire stands at a height of 65 meters, and the plateau at around 101 meters above sea level.

Chaumont-Sur-Loire has retained a number of tradesmen, craftsmen and professionals, including :
- Butcher, pork butcher, baker, tobacconist, newsagent, souvenir shop
- Restaurants, crêperie, hotels
- Doctors, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nurses, chiropodists
- Painters, plumbers, cabs, hairdressers, garages, forestry work, parks and gardens, house-building companies, public works, events...
- Gîtes, bed & breakfasts and a municipal campsite, which in 6 months of operation has recorded between 16,500 and 17,000 overnight stays.
- Farmers, foresters and winemakers.

Chaumont-Sur-Loire has a nursery and elementary school attended by 106 children and, for some years now, a conservatory of parks and gardens on the château farm.It teaches students from the University of Tours the skills they need to become landscape architects and designers. They also organize training courses and seminars on the same themes.
We should also mention
- The Domaine des Frileuses, which trains young people in equestrian-related professions,

On a tourist level, we offer the following facilities:
- The Château, open all year round, and the Parks and Gardens Festival (open from April to November).
- The Domaine des Frileuses, which organizes horse-riding courses and rides.
- A Tourist Office open all year round (Office de Tourisme de Blois, Chambord, Cheverny, Chaumont).

We'd like to take a moment to reflect on the cultural richness of Chaumont-Sur-Loire, thanks to its castle and its historic past. Before being purchased by the French state, the château belonged to 40 successive owners. Today, it is owned by the Région Centre.
Built in 980 by the Counts of Blois, in 1096 it passed to the House of Amboise, who held it for 500 years.
In 1170, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Contorbery, and Henry II of Plantagenet, King of England, met at the château, leading to the prelate's assassination.

In 1560, Catherine de Médicis, wife of François II, became owner of the château. On her husband's death, she exchanged Chaumont-Sur-Loire with Chenonceaux, owned by Henry II's favorite, Diane de Poitiers.
Catherine de Médicis had welcomed the astrologer Ruggieri to Chaumont-Sur-loire, where he conducted strange experiments.
The château then passed into the hands of financiers, including Scipio Sardini, and then to lords who did not leave a lasting impression until the arrival of the great bourgeois, including Jacques Donation Le Ray. He welcomed Nini, a renowned medallist and engraver who worked in clay. He settled in Chaumont-Sur-Loire and died there.
After the Le Ray family, several owners briefly succeeded one another. In 1784, Jacques Donation Le Ray also received Benjamin Franklin, to whom he offered his Valentinois hotel in Passy (Paris 1st arrondissement) to receive the members of the American delegation. Thus was created the 1st American embassy in France.
Jacques Donation Le Ray left for America, where he founded a town called "Chaumont" on the banks of a bay and a river, which he naturally named the Baie de Chaumont and the Rivière de Chaumont. Around this town we find Cap Vincent (his son's name), Elisabethville (his daughter's name), Lerayville (the family). All these places still exist.
During this period, Madame De Stael, daughter of financier Necker, was exiled by Napoleon for her political views.
In March 1875, the château was purchased by Mademoiselle Say, who married Prince Amédée de Broglie in June of the same year.
The Prince refurbished the château, enlarged the estate from 1,000 to 2,500 hectares and created a road network. A great horse lover and excellent rider, he built stables that are still famous today. He demolished the church and had it rebuilt in the village, moved the cemetery and built a modern farmhouse.
The Prince and Princess made many trips, including one to India. During his visit to Kapurthala, the Maharajah of that state presented the Princess with a gift of an elephant called "Miss Pungi", which stayed at Chaumont-Sur-Loire for several years before ending its days at the Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris.
After the death of Prince De Broglie and the Princess's remarriage to the Infant of Spain, ruin was inevitable, and the château was bought by the state in 1938.

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