Amboise

Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, {{Convert|27|km}} east of Tours. It is also about {{Convert|18|km}} away from the historic Château 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 Orléans, Blois and Tours.

File:Amboise colombage.jpg

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 Vouillé in 507.

Joan of Arc passed through in 1429 on her way to Orleans to the Battle of Patay.

Château du Clos Lucé was the residence of Leonardo da Vinci between 1516 and his death in 1519. Da Vinci died in the arms of King Francis I,{{Cite web |url=http://www.lascarpublishing.com/leonardo/ |title=Leonardo da Vinci | A chinese scholar lost in renaissance Italy |access-date=2015-10-20 |archive-date=2018-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726005921/http://www.lascarpublishing.com/leonardo/ |url-status=dead }} and he was buried in a crypt near the Château 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 Condé and the Huguenots in 1560 against Francis II, Catherine de' Medici and the Guises.

The Château 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.

File:82222253-SLD-001-0067.jpg

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 Château 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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.amboise-valdeloire.co.uk/destination-amboise/leonardo-da-vinci/amboise-celebrates-da-vincis-500th-anniversary/ |access-date=2019-12-02 |title=Archived copy |archive-date=3 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703194055/https://www.amboise-valdeloire.co.uk/destination-amboise/leonardo-da-vinci/amboise-celebrates-da-vincis-500th-anniversary// |url-status=dead }} The number of visitors to Château du Clos Lucé, for example, was estimated as 500,000 in 2019, a 30% increase over the typical annual number.{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/11/29/782568048/500-years-after-leonardo-da-vincis-death-france-celebrates-his-life-and-work |title=500 Years After Leonardo Da Vinci's Death, France Celebrates His Life And Work |date=29 November 2019 |publisher=NPR |access-date=2 December 2019 }}

{{Historical populations

|align = none

|cols = 2

|percentages = pagr

|source = EHESS{{Cassini-Ehess|620|Amboise}} and INSEE (1968-2017)[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-37003#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE

|graph-pos = bottom

|1793 |5659

|1800 |5113

|1806 |5097

|1821 |5276

|1831 |4613

|1836 |4695

|1841 |4715

|1846 |4956

|1851 |4762

|1856 |4433

|1861 |4570

|1866 |4188

|1872 |4216

|1876 |4475

|1881 |4167

|1886 |4592

|1891 |4480

|1896 |4463

|1901 |4538

|1906 |4731

|1911 |4660

|1921 |4625

|1926 |4483

|1931 |4129

|1936 |4236

|1946 |4443

|1954 |6736

|1962 |7953

|1968 |8625

|1975 |10680

|1982 |10857

|1990 |10982

|1999 |11457

|2007 |12589

|2012 |13157

|2017 |12610

}}

The city is known for the Clos Lucé manor house where Leonardo da Vinci lived (and ultimately died) at the invitation of King Francis I of France, whose Château d'Amboise, which dominates the town, is located just {{convert|500|m|0|abbr=in}} away. The narrow streets contain some good examples of timbered housing.

Just outside the city is the Pagode de Chanteloup, a {{convert|44|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall}} 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 Musée de la Poste (in the Hôtel 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.

{{wide image|File:Amboise Loire Panorama - July 2011.jpg|1000|Panoramic view of the Loire River at Amboise, France.}}

Amboise has a thriving tourism-related business community.{{Cite web |title=Amboise: Charming Visitors Since Leonardo da Vinci |url=https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/amboise-charming-visitors-since-leonardo-da-vinci |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=Rick Steves |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=2016-11-30 |title=Hôtel Le Clos d'Amboise |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/pays-de-la-loire/amboise/hotels/hotel-le-clos-d-amboise/ |access-date=2023-03-18 |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |last=Nadeau |first=Sophie |date=2022-03-28 |title=A Guide to the Best Things to do in Amboise, Loire Valley |url=https://www.solosophie.com/things-to-do-in-amboise/ |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=solosophie |language=en-GB}} Until 2021, it had also the headquarters of Mecachrome, a precision engineering company that operates in the aerospace, motor racing, energy and defence sectors.{{Cite web |title=Mecachrome France (31700) : siret, siren, TVA, bilan gratuit... |url=https://entreprises.lefigaro.fr/mecachrome-france-37/entreprise-429853351 |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=entreprises.lefigaro.fr}}

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in France}}

Amboise is twinned with:

• {{flagicon|GER}} Boppard, Germany
• {{flagicon|MLI}} Fana, Mali
• {{flagicon|JPN}} Suwa (prefecture of Nagano), Japan
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Vinci, Italy
• {{flagicon|ROU}} Băleni (province of Galați), Romania

File:AmboiseFmChateau.jpeg|Amboise viewed from the Château d'Amboise

File:Amboise03.jpg|Château d'Amboise

File:Amboise Horloge.jpg|Tour de l'Horloge (the Clock Tower)

File:Clos Lucé.jpg|Exterior shot of the Clos Lucé Mansion

File:Ambuaz IMG 1760.JPG|Château d'Amboise over Loire

File:Amboise (cityview from the castle).JPG|Amboise (cityview from the castle)

File:Chanteloup Pagoda, 2003 (2).jpg|Pagode de Chanteloup, built in 1775 by the Duke of Choiseul

• Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
• Colin Biart, 15th/16th-century French architect
• Châteliers oppidum

{{reflist}}

{{Wikivoyage|Amboise}}

{{Commons category|Amboise}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040622222914/http://france.archiseek.com/indre_et_loire/amboise/index.html Architecture of Amboise]
• [http://www.pagode-chanteloup.com/ Monument Historique de la Loire : La Pagode Chanteloup]
• [http://www.chateau-gaillard-amboise.fr/ Château Gaillard, Amboise]
• [https://about-france.com/towns/amboise.htm Amboise] on About-France.com

{{Loire Valley communes}}

{{Indre-et-Loire communes}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Communes of Indre-et-Loire

Category:Touraine