General view
by BULLANT, Jean, Photo
In 1576 Catherine de’ Medici decided to enlarge her château of Chenonceau, which she had forced Diane de Poitiers to give up to her after the death of Henry II. Diane had built the bridge over the Cher to the designs of Philibert Delorme, and Bullant added a gallery to it, which in its general conception recalls that of La F�re-en-Tardenois.
The gallery on the bridge was part of the scheme to add to the château’s sense of scale by creating dramatic axial approaches.