Château de Brissac

Château de Brissac stands in Brissac-Loire-Aubance in Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, approximately 20 kilometres south of Angers on the banks of the Aubance River. At seven storeys and standing approximately 48 metres high, it is considered the tallest château in the Loire Valley and among the tallest in France. The château's unusual height results from a sixteenth-century construction anomaly: a new Renaissance building was begun around an incomplete medieval tower that was never fully demolished, leaving two older towers embedded within a much grander later structure. The result is an eclectic exterior combining medieval military towers with classical Renaissance wings and elaborate dormer windows, all visible from the formal avenue of trees on the approach. The château remains privately owned by the Cossé-Brissac family, which has held it for five centuries, giving it an intimate atmosphere distinct from state-managed heritage properties. Guided tours lead through reception rooms displaying tapestries, family portraits, Gobelins tapestries, Aubusson carpets, gilded Louis XV and Louis XVI furniture, and a private opera theatre seating 200 people — considered one of the finest private theatres in France, with an original painted ceiling and full stage equipment intact. The surrounding grounds include a formal garden, a moat fed by the Aubance, and a winery producing Anjou AOC red and rosé wines sold directly at the château. Seasonal opera performances in the private theatre are a scheduled summer event.