Château du Rivau

The Château du Rivau is a castle-palace in Lémeré, in the Touraine region, France. In Rabelais' Gargantua, it was given to captain Tolmere as a reward for his victories in the Picrocholean Wars.

In 1429, towards the end of the Hundred Years' War, before the siege of Orleans, Joan of Arc and her followers came to fetch horses at Le Rivau, already renowned for the quality of its equipage and war horses who were raised there. In 1510 François de Beauvau, captain of King Francis I of France, constructed the monumental stables, in the outbuildings' courtyard, that supplied royal stallions. Those stables became the royal stables of Henri III and housed his stallions. An exhibit shows the history of the King's horses and tells the visitor about the mythical horses: Pegasus, Unicorn...