Moulinsart Castle

Lore & Background

Hergé based Moulinsart Castle directly on the Château de Cheverny, a real château in the Loire Valley. The fictional version omits the two outermost wings of Cheverny, keeping only the central tower and two wings, which are almost identical to the real building. This design choice gives Moulinsart its distinctive, symmetrical appearance in the comics. The real Château de Cheverny was built between 1624 and 1630 to designs by the sculptor architect of Blois, Jacques Bougier, who was trained in the atelier of Salomon de Brosse. Its design at Cheverny recalls features of the Palais du Luxembourg. The interiors of the real château were completed by Élisabeth Hurault, wife of the marquis de Montglas, by 1650, employing craftsmen from Blois.

In Their Own Story

The real Château de Cheverny was visited by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 1963, as part of her four-day holiday in the Loire Valley. In 1914, the owner opened the château to the public, one of the first to do so. The de Vibraye family still operates it, and the Château de Cheverny remains a top tourist attraction to this day, renowned for magnificent interiors and its collection of furniture, tapestries, and objets d'art. A pack of some one hundred and twenty hunting hounds (60 males, 40 females and 20 pups) are kept in kennels within the grounds and are taken out for hunts twice-weekly.

Reader's Guide

Moulinsart Castle, as depicted in the comics, is a direct visual copy of the Château de Cheverny, minus the two outermost wings. The real château is located in Cheverny, Loir-et-Cher, France, and is one of the châteaux of the Loire Valley. Its central Grand Salon on the ground floor was decorated under the orders of the marquise de Montglas. Among the paintings are a portrait of Jeanne d'Aragon, from the school of Raphael and a portrait of Marie Johanne La Saumery, Comtesse de Cheverny by Pierre Mignard. A gallery leads to the Petit Salon which is hung with five Flemish tapestries and a portrait attributed to Maurice-Quentin de La Tour. In the Library are hung portraits by Jean Clouet and Hyacinthe Rigaud. A stone staircase carved with trophies of arms and the arts leads to the Grand Appartements. A guard room with a collection of arms and armour leads to the Chambre du Roi, richly hung with five Paris tapestries after designs by Simon Vouet, representing the story of Ulysses.

Did You Know?

• Hergé used the Château de Cheverny as the model for Moulinsart Castle, omitting the two outermost wings.
• The real Château de Cheverny was built between 1624 and 1630 by Jacques Bougier, a sculptor architect trained in the atelier of Salomon de Brosse.
• The château was opened to the public in 1914, one of the first to do so.
• A pack of some one hundred and twenty hunting hounds are kept in kennels within the grounds.
• Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visited the château in 1963.