CHENONCEAUX  , a

village of central France, in the department of Indre-et-Loire, on the right bank of the Cher, 20 M . E. by S. of Tours on the Orleans railway . Pop . (rgo6) 216 . Chenonceaux owes its interest to its chateau (see ARCHITECTURE: Renaissance Architecture in France), a building in the Renaissance style on the river Cher, to the left bank of which it is united by a two-storeyed gallery built upon five arches, and to the right by a drawbridge flanked by an isolated tower, part of an earlier building of the 15th century . Founded in 1515 by Thomas Bohier (d . 1523), financial minister in Normandy, the chateau was confiscated by Francis I. in 1535 . Henry II. presented it to his mistress Diane de Poitiers, who on his death was forced to exchange it for Chaumont-sur-Loire by Catherine de' Medici . The latter built the gallery which leads to the left bank of the Cher . Chenonceaux passed successively into the hands of Louise de Vaudemont, wife of Henry III., the house of Vendome, and the family of Bourbon-Conde . In the 18th century it came into the possession of the farmer-general Claude Dupin (1684–176g), who entertained the most distinguished people in France within its walls . In 1864 it was sold to the chemist Theophile Pelouze, whose wife executed extensive restorations .

It subsequently became the

property of the Credit Foncier, and again passed into private occupancy .