Clos Lucé

The Clos Lucé is located 500 meters from the Royal Chateau Amboise and are connected by an underground passageway. Built by Étienne le Loup in the middle of the 15th century, it was acquired in 1490 by King Charles VIII of France for his wife, Anne de Bretagne. Later, it was used by King François I, as well his sister, Marguerite de Navarre who began to wrote her book titled L'Heptaméron while living there.

In 1516, King François I invited Leonardo da Vinci to Amboise and provided him with the Clos-Lucé as a place to stay and to work. The great painter/inventor arrived with three samples of his painting, the Mona Lisa, Sainte Anne, and Saint Jean Baptiste. Leonardo lived at the Clos-Lucé for the last three years of his life until his death on May 2, 1519.

Today, the Clos-Lucé mansion is a museum that reflects the prestigious history of the region and includes forty models of the various machines designed by Leonardo.