Jean le Noir, court architect, rebuilt the castle for Louis I, Duke of Orléans, from about 1393 to 1407,. Troops sent by Cardinal Richelieu took it in 1617 and began a demolition that was not completed. It remained a ruin for more than two centuries, and Napoleon I bought it in 1810 for less than 3,000 francs.
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was asked to restore it in 1857. By 1861 Napoleon III wanted an imperial residence, so the plan became a full rebuilding. Maurice Ouadou and then Juste Lisch continued the work until 1885, when it stopped, six years after Viollet-le-Duc's death.
The exterior shows Viollet-le-Duc's knowledge of 14th-century military architecture, while the article calls the interior more an invention than a restoration, with polychrome paintings left unfinished for lack of funds. The Centre des monuments nationaux manages it. The article gives no hours.
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