A domain shaped by over six centuries of history in the heart of the Loire Valley
This discreet château, with its quiet history, has long remained in the shadow of its grand neighbour, the Château of Azay-le-Rideau.
The collector Charles Ephrussi, owner of the Gazette des Beaux-Arts and close to the Cahen d’Anvers family, introduced Pierre-Auguste Renoir to the banker Louis Cahen d’Anvers in 1880.
He later commissioned the artist to paint portraits of his daughters, including Little Girl with a Blue Ribbon (Irène, 1880) and the famous Young Girls at the Piano (1881), in which the younger sisters Elisabeth and Alice appear together. This work is now held at the São Paulo Museum of Art.
Elisabeth Cahen d’Anvers, the young girl dressed in blue in the painting, later became the owner of Plessis Gallu from 1924 to 1938. Arrested in 1944, she died in Auschwitz at the age of 69.
Plessis: a masculine noun dating back to around 1120. It originally referred to a fortified place surrounded by wooden palisades — a defensive enclosure made of interwoven branches forming a natural barrier.
In the 12th century, this structure described a tightly woven hedge used in winter, which would later grow into a natural enclosure in spring.
The origin of the word Gallu remains uncertain. In Latin, gallus means “rooster.” Given that Touraine was occupied by the English during the medieval period, the name may also derive from the Gaulish gallu (caer), meaning “power” or “stronghold.”
The Château du Plessis Gallu, dating back to 1379, features distinctive defensive elements, including gunports, machicolations and arrow slits along the rampart wall, particularly visible at the entrance to the Plessis pathway.
An ongoing architectural study confirms its medieval origins, evidenced by the four towers of the château, the extension of the enclosing wall, and the remains of an additional tower. The estate also includes deep, unused stone quarries.
This account is based on extensive historical research carried out using local archives and period documents.
A meticulous study that retraces the history of the Plessis Gallu estate through the centuries.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Geneviève Guilpain for the quality of her research.
The information presented is drawn in particular from the departmental archives of Indre-et-Loire, civil registry records, and the archives of Azay-le-Rideau.
