Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S09E10.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[und] Subtitles

00:00:01,300 --> 00:00:04,[narrator] A beautiful chateau
with an ugly past.

00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:09,This castles glory
was born out of deceit

00:00:09,166 --> 00:00:10,and treachery.

00:00:14,500 --> 00:00:17,[narrator] A gloomy structure
that administered hope.

00:00:18,900 --> 00:00:22,It was a remedy
to the racial injustices

00:00:22,667 --> 00:00:23,that were going on.

00:00:28,667 --> 00:00:30,[narrator]
And an out-of-this-world site

00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:31,[narrator]
And an out-of-this-world site

00:00:31,166 --> 00:00:33,built by sheer ingenuity.

00:00:33,767 --> 00:00:35,A lot of resources were spent

00:00:35,967 --> 00:00:38,to create these
beautiful spaces

00:00:38,367 --> 00:00:39,hundreds of feet above ground.

00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:46,[narrator] Decaying relics.

00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,Ruins of lost worlds.

00:00:51,867 --> 00:00:54,Sites haunted by the past.

00:00:55,667 --> 00:00:58,Their secrets
waiting to be revealed.

00:01:07,166 --> 00:01:10,In the heart
of France's Loire Valley

00:01:10,367 --> 00:01:12,to the southwest of Paris

00:01:12,667 --> 00:01:16,is a fairy tale structure
with a dramatic story to tell.

00:01:21,567 --> 00:01:22,I feel like I've been set down

00:01:22,867 --> 00:01:24,in the middle
of the Magic Kingdom.

00:01:26,100 --> 00:01:29,[Rob] It's beautiful
and utterly captivating.

00:01:29,467 --> 00:01:30,It's like this mix between
Angkor Wat and Disneyland.

00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:31,It's like this mix between
Angkor Wat and Disneyland.

00:01:34,667 --> 00:01:36,[narrator] This region
is known

00:01:36,367 --> 00:01:38,for its sprawling chateaus,

00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:40,but none looked like this...

00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,It's not the standard version.

00:01:44,767 --> 00:01:46,Most of them are very,
very symmetrical.

00:01:46,767 --> 00:01:48,This one is fun.

00:01:48,367 --> 00:01:51,It sits in the middle
of a lake, a deliberate lake,

00:01:51,967 --> 00:01:55,and it makes the castle
look like it's floating.

00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,It's a really clever
architectural trick.

00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:00,[narrator] Yet this once
lavish sights,

00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,[narrator] Yet this once
lavish sights,

00:02:01,467 --> 00:02:04,days of grandeur
are now a distant memory.

00:02:05,767 --> 00:02:09,The reefs gone and there's
vegetation crawling

00:02:09,066 --> 00:02:10,its way through
all the windows

00:02:10,767 --> 00:02:12,and along all the walls.

00:02:13,700 --> 00:02:16,[Claire] But behind
this glorious chateau

00:02:16,166 --> 00:02:18,is a tale of treachery
and deceit.

00:02:19,767 --> 00:02:21,[Rob] Its owner
was labeled a traitor

00:02:21,567 --> 00:02:23,by France's most
notorious king.

00:02:26,266 --> 00:02:28,[narrator] But his fall
from grace

00:02:28,166 --> 00:02:30,would be the making
of this fantastical place.

00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:31,would be the making
of this fantastical place.

00:02:37,767 --> 00:02:42,The Loire Valley is famed
for its extravagant castles.

00:02:42,867 --> 00:02:45,Centuries
of aristocratic wealth

00:02:45,166 --> 00:02:47,mean that opulence
is the norm here.

00:02:49,567 --> 00:02:52,We're in the heart
of the French countryside

00:02:52,367 --> 00:02:55,at the very tip
of the Loire Valley.

00:02:55,166 --> 00:02:58,All the Great Kings
of France enjoyed coming here

00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,to relax
in the fresh river air.

00:03:04,667 --> 00:03:08,[narrator] When Romain Delaume
first came here in 2017,

00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:10,he was instantly struck

00:03:10,567 --> 00:03:13,by the majestic charm
of the rundown ruin.

00:03:15,567 --> 00:03:18,[Romain] I fell in love
with the castle straight away.

00:03:18,166 --> 00:03:20,What with the water,
the castle and nature?

00:03:20,767 --> 00:03:23,We're experiencing
something special here.

00:03:23,066 --> 00:03:25,You can really sense
some very strong emotions.

00:03:27,100 --> 00:03:30,[narrator] Chateau
de la Mothe-Chandeniers

00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:30,[narrator] Chateau
de la Mothe-Chandeniers

00:03:30,166 --> 00:03:31,dates back
to the 13th century,

00:03:33,767 --> 00:03:37,a time when powerful kings
and queens ruled the land,

00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:41,long before bloody revolution

00:03:41,467 --> 00:03:42,would sever their heads.

00:03:45,367 --> 00:03:48,Here we are in the oldest
part of the estate.

00:03:48,166 --> 00:03:51,You can see this big wall,
which was once a moat.

00:03:51,367 --> 00:03:53,In fact, the main moat

00:03:53,066 --> 00:03:55,which wrapped
around the castle of La Mothe

00:03:55,567 --> 00:03:56,and in front of us,

00:03:56,767 --> 00:03:59,you can see the oldest
section of the castle,

00:03:59,166 --> 00:04:00,which were
the old medieval kitchens.

00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,which were
the old medieval kitchens.

00:04:03,100 --> 00:04:04,[narrator] Over the years,

00:04:04,266 --> 00:04:07,the chateau has changed
hands many times

00:04:07,367 --> 00:04:09,and so has its appearance,

00:04:10,066 --> 00:04:12,and its most notorious owner

00:04:12,266 --> 00:04:14,was Francois de Rochechouart.

00:04:17,166 --> 00:04:21,He's one of the great nobles
of the 17th century in France,

00:04:21,567 --> 00:04:24,quite close
to King Louis, XIII,

00:04:24,266 --> 00:04:26,the father of Louis XIV,

00:04:26,266 --> 00:04:30,and thick as thieves
with the ruling elite
in France at the time.

00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:30,and thick as thieves
with the ruling elite
in France at the time.

00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,Francois is captain
of the king's bodyguards,

00:04:34,266 --> 00:04:37,so he's responsible
for the royal family's
safety and protection.

00:04:40,266 --> 00:04:43,[narrator] But at the start
of 1643,

00:04:43,266 --> 00:04:46,the sudden death of the king
sent shockwaves across France.

00:04:48,467 --> 00:04:50,[Claire] The death
of Louis XIII

00:04:50,266 --> 00:04:53,brings about
great political unrest.

00:04:53,266 --> 00:04:56,They're in the middle
of the Franco-Spanish war,

00:04:56,567 --> 00:04:59,and a change in leadership
at this moment

00:04:59,367 --> 00:05:00,is absolutely catastrophic.

00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,is absolutely catastrophic.

00:05:01,367 --> 00:05:03,It turns politics
into turmoil.

00:05:05,900 --> 00:05:08,[narrator] The new king,
Louis XIV

00:05:08,467 --> 00:05:10,was just four years old,

00:05:10,667 --> 00:05:13,so his mother and her
advisers took control.

00:05:14,266 --> 00:05:16,They soon raised
taxes to cover

00:05:16,367 --> 00:05:19,the escalating cost
of the ongoing war with Spain.

00:05:22,166 --> 00:05:24,This provokes
an uprising in France

00:05:24,567 --> 00:05:26,of the leading
noble families,

00:05:26,367 --> 00:05:27,the merchant class

00:05:27,667 --> 00:05:29,and even just ordinary people

00:05:29,467 --> 00:05:30,in the big cities like
Paris against the regime

00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:31,in the big cities like
Paris against the regime

00:05:32,367 --> 00:05:34,rebelling against
these tax demands.

00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,1648 marks
the start of a series

00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,of small civil wars

00:05:41,066 --> 00:05:42,collectively known
as the Fronde.

00:05:43,667 --> 00:05:45,[Geoff] And during
The Fronde,

00:05:45,100 --> 00:05:47,Rochechouart
falls under suspicion

00:05:47,367 --> 00:05:49,of agitating
against Louis XIV,

00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:51,and so he's imprisoned

00:05:51,467 --> 00:05:53,by order of the king
for two years.

00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,[narrator] On his release,
Francois,

00:05:58,266 --> 00:06:00,now exiled from Louis
Royal Court in Paris,

00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,now exiled from Louis
Royal Court in Paris,

00:06:01,867 --> 00:06:05,retreats to his family's
dilapidated castle

00:06:05,066 --> 00:06:06,here in the Loire Valley.

00:06:07,867 --> 00:06:09,[Claire] Originally built
as a hunting lodge,

00:06:09,967 --> 00:06:15,the fortress has been
pretty much disused
for centuries,

00:06:15,166 --> 00:06:17,but he sets about
transforming it

00:06:17,266 --> 00:06:18,into a renaissance palace.

00:06:20,900 --> 00:06:24,And to make up for his
dramatic fall from grace,

00:06:24,467 --> 00:06:27,he creates his own court
to overshadow...