\b0 At the end of the fifteenth century, the Countship of Blois was annexed to the French crown and the
prince's castle became a royal residence. Attracted by the gentle climate of the banks of the Loire, its lands abounding in game, and its proximity to Paris, the sovereigns of the sixteenth century modified and embellished the building. They made it one
of their homes and centers of power, as is still apparent from the sumptuous decorations of the apartments of Queen Catherine de' Medici and King Henry III. Louis XII and\b \cf4 \ATXht464 \ATXul1024 Francis I\b0 \ATXul0 \cf0 \ATXht0 gave their names to
two wings of the castle, which takes the form of a quadrilateral surrounding a main courtyard. The latter has an extraordinary ôopenö staircase set inside an octagonal tower. On the other side stands the chancel of the chapel of Saint-Calais, consecrate
d in 1508. The wing named after Gaston d'OrlΘans, built between 1635 and 1638, adds a note of classicism to this complex in the style of the Renaissance.\par
