Description of the attraction
The Church of Saint Florentine, which is located on the banks of the Loire, is another attraction of Amboise associated with the name of the famous city dweller - artist, inventor and scientist Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo da Vinci died in May 1519 at his Château du Clos-Luce and bequeathed to be buried in the Church of St. Florentine, where rich and noble citizens and government officials were also buried. The will of the genius was carried out, but his remains rest in the chapel of Saint-Hubert, located near the castle of Amboise. At the same time, doubts about whether the bones of a genius really lie under a marble slab have not yet been completely dispelled.
The church was built in the 15th century and was intended only for King Louis XI and his family members. At that time, epidemics were raging in Amboise, and the king, as best he could, tried to protect himself and his neighbors from infection. In the second half of the 16th century, Amboise became the center of a conspiracy, due to which armed clashes began in the country, called the Huguenot Wars, and lasted more than thirty years. During these wars, the Church of St. Florentine was looted, the graves inside it were desecrated, and the building itself was badly damaged. At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon donated the castle of Amboise, badly battered by the revolution, to the third consul of France, Roger Ducos. He, in turn, ordered to demolish the dilapidated building of the church, and use the stones to restore the castle.
Only in the second half of the 19th century, excavations were carried out on the site of the Church of St. Florentine, and the ashes, which were presumably identified as the remains of Leonardo da Vinci, were buried in the chapel of Saint-Hubert.
The Church of St. Florentine was reconstructed in the middle of the 20th century and acquired the status of a historical monument. Her style is characterized as Gothic; her interior features a hall with arches and stained glass windows.
