Located in the village of Chambord in the Loire Valley, the royal Château de Chambord is a stunning and massive châteaux, and is one of the most easily recognizable of the French castles for its distinctive French Renaissance style of architecture – a fine mix of traditional medieval French style with classical structures of the Renaissance. The chateau was built by King Francois I and completed in 1547 under Henry II.
The chateau has eleven kinds of towers and three kinds of chimneys. It also has no symmetry and is framed at the corners by the enormous towers. Its silhouette resembles that of a city more than of a building. The towers and moat are decorative since the chateau was never meant to provide protection. The château has 440 rooms, 282 ornate fireplaces, and 84 staircases including a unique double spiral staircase. It is surrounded by a 13,000 acre park and hunting reserve and a 20 mile long wall.