The Château de Montségur (English: Castle of Montsegur; Languedocien: Castèl de Montsegur) is a former fortress near Montségur, a commune in the Ariège department in southern France. Its ruins are the site of a razed stronghold of the Cathars. The present fortress on the site, though described as one of the "Cathar castles," is actually of a later period. It has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1862.


The ruins of Montségur are perched at a precarious 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) altitude in the south of France near the Pyrenees. Located in the heart of France's Languedoc-Occitanie regions, 80 km (50 mi) southwest of Carcassonne, Montségur dominates a rock formation known as a pog — a term derived from the Languedocien dialect of Occitan — puòg or puèg, meaning "peak, hill, mountain." The top of the ruin is reached by a path and is 170m above the road.


The earliest signs of human settlement in the area date back to the Stone Age. Evidence of Roman occupation such as Roman currency and tools have also been found in and around the site. Its name comes from Latin mons securus, which evolved into mont ségur in Occitan, which means "safe hill". In the Middle Ages the Montsegur region was ruled by the Counts of Toulouse, the Viscounts of Carcassonne and finally the Counts of Foix. Little is known about the fortification until the time of the Albigensian Crusade.


In about 1204, Raymond de Péreille, one of the two lords of Montségur, the other being his cousin Pierre-Roger de Mirepoix, decided to rebuild the castle that had been in ruins for 40 years or more. Refortified, the castle became a center of Cathar activities, and home to Guilhabert de Castres, a Cathar theologian and bishop. In 1233 the site became "the seat and head" (domicilium et caput) of the Cathar church. It has been estimated that the fortified site housed about 500 people when in 1241, Raymond VII besieged Montsegur without success. The murder of representatives of the inquisition by about fifty men from Montsegur and faidits at Avignonet on May 28, 1242, was the trigger for the final military expedition to conquer the castle, the siege of Montségur.
In 1242 Hugues de Arcis led the military command of about 10,000 royal troops against the castle that was held by about 100 fighters and was home to 211 Perfects (who were pacifists and did not fight) and civilian refugees. The siege lasted nine months, until in March 1244, the castle finally surrendered. Approximately 220 Cathars were burned en masse in a bonfire at the foot of the pog when they refused to renounce their faith. Some 25 actually took the ultimate Cathar vow of consolamentum perfecti in the two weeks before the final surrender. Those who renounced the Cathar faith were allowed to leave and the castle itself was destroyed.
In the days prior to the fall of the fortress, several Cathars allegedly slipped through the besiegers' lines. This led to legends that they escaped with a secret treasure or esoteric knowledge. In 1906, esoteric French writer Joséphin Péladan proposed that the treasure was really the Holy Grail, arguing that Montségur was the Munsalväsche (or Montsalvat) of Wolfram von Eschenbach's 13th-century Grail romance Parzival. This idea was followed and expanded upon by various later writers, especially in France, and has inspired legends, conspiracy theories, and fictional works associating the Cathars and Montségur with the Holy Grail.


The present fortress ruin at Montségur is not from the Cathar era. The original Cathar fortress of Montségur was entirely pulled down by the victorious royal forces after its capture in 1244. It was gradually rebuilt and upgraded over the next three centuries by royal forces. The current ruin so dramatically occupying the site, and featured in illustrations, is referred to by French archeologists as "Montsegur III" and is typical of post-medieval royal French defensive architecture of the 17th century. It is not "Montsegur II," the structure in which the Cathars lived and were besieged, of which few traces remain today.
Montségur's solar alignment characteristics, visible on the morning of the summer solstice in particular, are part of what set this castle apart as an architectural wonder. This often mentioned solar phenomenon, occurring in an alignment of two windows in the fortress wall, has been observed by hundreds of students, astronomers, spiritual pilgrims and locals alike who come to the chateau specifically to view it every year and has been recorded and included in the documentary "The Otherworld," (by Richard Stanley) in 2013.
The Groupe de Recherches Archéologiques de Montségur et Environs (GRAME) (Archeological Research Group of Montsegur and Vicinity), which conducted a 13-year archeological excavation of Montségur with minimal funds and the technology available at the time in 1964–76, concluded in its final report, which was not widely published, is not viewed as solid archeological research, and is hotly disputed by many, that:
There remains no trace within the present-day ruins, neither of the first fortress which was abandoned before the 13th century (Montsegur I), nor of the one which was built by Raymond de Péreille around 1210 (Montsegur II)..." (Il ne reste aucune trace dans les ruines actuelles ni du premier château qui était à l'abandon au début du XIIIe siècle (Montségur I), ni de celui que construisit Raimon de Pereilles vers 1210 (Montségur II)...)
This small quote is all that can be found of this study, and no other study has been done. Despite its questionable veracity and ethics, it has been repeated and quoted in virtually every document to be found on the subject.
The small ruins of the terraced dwellings, immediately outside the perimeter of the current fortress walls on the north-eastern flank are, however, confirmed to be traces of authentic former Cathar habitations.


The Château de Verteuil is a historic building in Charente, France. It dates back to 1080 and has since been extensively rebuilt, although 12th-century walls remain. The château has always been in the property of the La Rochefoucauld family.
During the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) the château was occupied several times by the English. It was demolished in 1442, but was soon rebuilt using the original stones. In the religious wars of 16th and 17th centuries the château was a base for Huguenot forces, and in 1650 it was partly demolished by royal troops. Another château was erected but it received extensive damage in a fire in 1793 during the French Revolution. The château was renovated in the romantic style after the Bourbon Restoration of 1815, and has been extensively modified since then. During World War II (1939–45) the château housed French troops and refugees from Alsace-Lorraine in 1940 and for several months it was partially occupied by some German units. In 1944 some members of the maquis were hidden there. The château was listed as a monument historique on 31 March 1966, and obtained full protection on 19 November 2010.
The present château, designed on a triangular plan, has five conical towers and a watchtower capped by slate roofs. Archaeologists have uncovered traces of the older buildings on the site dating back to the 11th century. The architect Frantz Jourdain renovated the interior of the 14th-century tower as a library for the Rochefoucault family in 1893. The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries of the building, which hung in the master bedroom, were rediscovered in 1850; they were later sold to John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in 1923.


The castle is in a strategic position, dominating the village of Verteuil-sur-Charente and the Charente valley.
In the past it controlled the road from Limoges to La Rochelle, on the route between the courts of France and Spain. The word "Verteuil" was often used in the Middle Ages to designate a fortified place.
Jean Froissart (c. 1337–1405) described it as "un meult fort chasteau en Poictou sur les marches du Limousin et de la Saintonge" (a strong castle in Poitou on the borders of Limousin and Saintonge).
The château, a few miles north of Angoulême and in fact in Angoumois, was later used as the country seat of the La Rochefoucauld family.


The Château de Verteuil is recorded in 1080 as the property of the Lord of La Rochefoucauld. Since then the castle has almost always belonged to a member of this family. The first recorded successful siege was in 1135, by Count Wulgrin II of Angoulême (c. 1089–1140), when the castle belonged to Aymar II de la Rochefoucauld. Hostilities continued between their descendants, William VI of Angoulême (died 1179) and Guy IV of la Rochefoucauld, but had ceased by 1170 when they both attended the dedication of the church of Saint-Amant-de-Boixe. Louis VII of France (1120–80) and Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204) may have stayed at Verteuil in 1137. Eleanor's mother was a Rochefoucauld, and due to the unsettled state of the country the young couple only stayed in safe and preferably well-fortified places in their journey from Bordeaux to Paris.
King Philip VI of France (1293–1350) stayed at the castle in 1332. Due to the Anglo-French hostilities the castle was playing an increasingly important role. During the Hundred Years' War the English were given the castle from 1360 to 1385 by the Treaty of Brétigny. The castle was yielded reluctantly to Edward III of England's regent in France, John Chandos, on 25 October 1361. He had brought the brother of the keeper to the castle and threatened to behead him unless there was an immediate capitulation. French troops commanded by the Duke of Bouillon and Geoffroy III of Rochefoucauld laid siege to the castle in 1380, but it did not yield until five years later. The English later regained the castle, but in 1442 Charles VII of France (1403–61) finally captured it from the English.
The Rochefoucaulds, who had played a major role in the fight against the English, now began to ravish Angoulême. Charles VII returned, and this time destroyed the castle, largely by fire. However, the stones were recovered and the castle rebuilt. In 1446 the Rochefoucaulds managed to obtain the king's pardon and permission to build a defensive wall and two towers in Verteuil to restore the traditional refuge of the villagers. Under this pretext they made the castle among the best defended in France.
The walls were not just restored but also reinforced using the latest techniques.
François I de La Rochefoucauld  (died 1541) was the godfather of Francis I of France (1494–1547), who visited Verteuil in 1516. Anne de Polignac, widow of Count François II de la Rochefoucauld, received the Emperor Charles V (1500–1558) in Verteuil on 6 December 1539. Her mother's sister was the wife of the historian Philippe de Commines. She made many improvements to the château, and built the famous library. In 1558 King Henry II of France (1519–59) stayed at Verteuil with his son Charles, Duke of Orleans (1550–74), and his daughter Elizabeth (1545–68), the future wife of Philip II of Spain (1527–98).


François III de La Rochefoucauld (1521–72) became brother-in-law of the Protestant Louis, Prince of Condé (1530–1569), and in 1560 organized a meeting at Verteuil between Condé and the Cardinal Georges d'Armagnac (c. 1501–1585) legate of Pope Pius IV, in an attempt to prevent further conflict. Two years later François III had thrown in his lot with the Protestants. In 1567 the 6th national synod of the Reformed Church of France was held at the château, and the next year it was a rallying point for Huguenot troops that came to the aid of La Rochelle when it was besieged by Catholics. The château was visited by the future king Henry IV of France (1553–1610), Catherine de' Medici (1519–89) and her daughter, Margaret  (1553–1615), Louis XIII of France (1601–43), Anne of Austria (1601–66) and the Queen Mother Marie de' Medici (1575–1642).
In 1650 François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) gathered more than 2,000 knights whom he led to Bordeaux to help the nobles in the second Fronde revolt.
Soon after Charles de La Porte, Marshall of France and Duc de la Meilleraye (1602–64) attacked and took the castle with royal troops.
He destroyed the Orangery and partially demolished the castle. The walls of the north wing were badly damaged, the towers dismantled, the drawbridge removed and the deep ditch that defended the northwest of the castle was partly filled.
The castle remained habitable, and in 1651 was visited by the Prince de Conti, but he was forced to withdraw by soldiers of the Queen's regiment. They installed a garrison of 150 men at Verteuil.
François VI was exiled by Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) after the revolt.
In 1652 François VI returned to the Château de Verteuil, where he spent most of his time until 1659 writing his Mémoires.
He was restored to favor in 1662 and in 1665 published his Maximes.
François died in Paris in 1680 but was buried in the Franciscan chapel of Verteuil, which had been founded in 1470 by his ancestor, John, 16th lord of Rochefoucauld and 13th lord of Verteuil. All of John's successors were buried in this chapel until the Reign of Terror began in 1793.
There were some distinguished visitors during the reign of Louis XV of France (1710–1774). Elisabeth Farnese (1692–1766) the second wife of Philip V of Spain (1683–1746), spent time at Verteuil. The English agronomist Arthur Young in his account of a Journey to France in 1787 gave a detailed and flattering description of Verteuil, praising the agricultural improvements and the life of the population.


At the time of the outbreak of the French Revolution (1789–99) there were excellent relations between the La Rochefoucauld  family and the people of Verteuil. According to Marquis de Amodio, nothing might have happened to the château if it had not been for Ruffec's Committee of Public Safety and the Convention member Gilbert Romme, who is credited with burning most of the archives at Verteuil and thirty portraits.
A fire accident occurred in 1793 that destroyed the large gallery that connected the chapel to the north tower, and the west face of the large central tower was seriously damaged. The fire spread along the roofs and turrets of the northwest wing, and the upper part of the north tower was also burned. The chapel was sacked, and the flames destroyed its facade and part of its north wall. The crypt was not damaged. Most of the floors and fireplaces in the château and all the doors, windows and woodwork were irreparably destroyed.


After the Revolution the senior branch of the Rochefoucauld family regained possession. The château was renovated in the first half of the 19th century. The work was undertaken by the La Villéons in the romantic style that accompanied the Bourbon Restoration after 1815. They added decorations to the windows and made false arrow slots, added two towers to the south facade, added a flamboyant balustrade and dormer windows, and made changes to part of the chapel.
During the Second French Empire (1852–70) further changes were made, mainly to the interior. Hippolyte de La Rochefoucauld (1804–63), who had been minister plenipotentiary in Germany and Florence, brought a fine collection of furniture and 18th-century Venetian glass chandeliers when he retired. He restored the great stone staircase. Influenced by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc he decided to transform the large East tower into a library. He blocked up the old openings and pierced large new windows in the old walls.
He commissioned a copy of the statue by Didier Début on the facade of the Hôtel de Ville, Paris of the author of the Maximes.
During World War II (1939–45) the château housed French troops and refugees from Alsace-Lorraine in 1940.
For several months it was partially occupied by some German units. In 1944 some members of the maquis were hidden there.
Various extremely interesting archaeological finds have been made since the war.
Research started by Count Gabriel de La Rochefoucauld, which had been interrupted by the war, uncovered a buried part of the castle dating to the 12th and 13th centuries, including the room that housed the drawbridge mechanism.
A 12th-century stairway was discovered that led down to a lower chapel from the 11th century, in excellent condition, whose existence was completely unknown before 1958. Various other traces of the early buildings have been found.
The château was listed as a monument historique on 31 March 1966, with the facades, roofs and substructure protected.
The site was completely protected on 4 April 2017 as it was believed that the château, the interior courtyard and the land to the north may hold archaeological remains.


The present château with its five conical towers and watchtower capped by slate roofs began to be built in the 15th century, and was altered and extended several times since then. A park was built in the 19th century through which a wide driveway brought visitors to the main building. This is based on a central square tower with a pyramidal roof.
The square keep is the main remaining part of the medieval structure.
The present building is designed on a triangular plan. The large tower at the tip of the triangle is the medieval gatehouse, from which wings extend on either side. An isolated tower that now has the library on two floors divides the curtain wall on the east.
The buildings in the southeast were scarcely affected by the 19th-century restoration apart from the chapel. Many of the walls of the 12th-century tower have survived, partly rebuilt in the 15th century, and there are traces of a Romanesque chapel. The park was redesigned in the 19th century, enclosed in dry stone walls with several entrances. These have since been removed, as have the luxuriant gardens of the 18th century. Some traces remain in the form of boxwood, some alleys, the pools on the two terraces and the rockery.


An inventory was made in 1728 after the death of Duke Francois VIII.
The library contained 1,069 works.
The master bedroom included an elegant bed with sumptuous fittings of violet velvet embroidered in gold and silver, armchairs upholstered in the same velvet, a large Turkish rug in an alcove, a walnut table and other items.
The architect Frantz Jourdain renovated the interior of the 14th-century tower as a library for the Rochefoucault family in 1893. He designed it as a "chapelle intellectuelle" to display memorabilia of the famous author. Adrien Karbowsky contributed decorative murals to the room.
Hippolyte's son, Count Aimery de La Rochefoucauld continued to collect the souvenirs of his ancestors, turning the château into a sort of family museum. He redecorated the chapel and added stained glass windows.


Seven of The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries were recorded in a 1680 inventory of the Paris possessions of Duke Francois VI. From various symbolic motifs, the tapestries seem to have been made to celebrate a marriage, probably that of Anne of Brittany (1477–1514) and Louis XII of France (1462–1515). The royal arms of Louis and Anne would have once decorated the sky in most of the tapestries.
The 1728 inventory recorded five of The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries hanging in the château's master bedroom. The tapestries, which were then well over two hundred years old, were almost half worn out. Two more of the tapestries were in "a large lower hall near the chapel, presently serving as a storage place for furniture". They were described as "two pieces of tapestry of the Unicorn, torn in various places".
During the French Revolution, Ruffec's Comité de Surveillance ruled that the old tapestries of the château could be preserved, since they bore no royal insignia. It seems that the insignia had been cut out so the tapestries would not be destroyed by the mob when the château was looted in 1793. They were taken by peasants who used them to protect their potatoes from freezing and to cover their espalier trees.
Count Hippolyte rediscovered the Unicorn tapestries of the château in the 1850s, being used by a peasant to cover vegetables in his barn. After being restored they were hung in a salon of the château in 1856. Xavier Barbier de Montault saw the tapestries at Verteuil in the 1880s and said that, although "somewhat restored, [they] are of a freshness and of an incomparable grace".
In 1923, the tapestries were sold to John D. Rockefeller Jr. and shipped to New York, where they are now on display in The Cloisters medieval galleries.


Cavallo, Adolph S. (1 January 1998). The Unicorn Tapestries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-87099-868-3. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
"Château de Verteuil". En Charente (in French). Panoglobe. Archived from the original on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
"Château de Verteuil". Base Mérimée (in French). Ministry of Culture. 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
Clausen, Meredith L. (1987). Décoration & Le Rationalisme Architecturaux a L'Exposition Universelle. Brill Archive. ISBN 90-04-07879-7. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
Fleury, Paul de (1886). Inventaire des meubles existant dans les chateaux de La Rochefoucauld, de Verteuil et de La Terne à la mort de Francois VIII de La Rochefoucauld (1728): publie d'apres l'original des archives de La Charente (in French). Imprimerie G. Chasseignac. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
Freeman, Margaret Beam (1 January 1976). The Unicorn Tapestries. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-87099-147-9. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
George, Sandie (2015). "Verteuil-sur-Charente – a hidden gem of a village". Discover ... The French Atlantic Coast. R et M Media Agency. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
"Le Cadre" (in French). Réception parc château de Verteuil. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
Marquis de Amodio (1958). "Le Château de Verteuil" (PDF) (in French). Société Archéologique et Historique de la Charente. Retrieved 29 March 2015.


The Château de Villiers-le-Mahieu is a modernised castle in the commune of Villiers-le-Mahieu in the Yvelines département of France. It was built in the 13th century and was extensively remodelled in the 17th. It is now in use as a hotel.


According to legend, the original castle was built by the English in the Middle Ages. The original 13th-century castle moats surround the château. In 1642, the Marquis Claude d'Attilly built the present Renaissance style  structure on the remains of the original. It was restored in 1965 by the Comte de Rohan Chabot and was the home of the French Expressionist painter, Bernard Buffet, from 1971 to 1979. In 1980, a young hotelier, Jean-Luc Chaufour, began a process of establishing a top class hotel within the castle and its grounds.
It has been listed since 1964 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.


The Château de la Chaize is a château in Odenas, Rhône, France. It was completed in 1676. The project was financed by Louis XIV's personal chaplain, François de la Chaise, "and his grateful nephew, the original owner, named the chateau for his munificent uncle." The architect was Jules Hardouin-Mansart, and André Le Nôtre designed the gardens. It has been listed as an official historical monument since April 27, 1972.


The  Château de la Grange Fort or Château de la Grangefort is a 15th-century French castle located in the commune of  Les Pradeaux, near Issoire, in the Puy-de-Dôme département of France.
It dates from the 15th century but has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. In the 19th century, it was restored and embellished by Viollet-le-Duc. It was converted into a campsite and guest house by Van Bronkhorst, an aristocratic Dutch family originally from Hengelo (Gelderland), who bought the site in 1985.


The Château des Tourelles is a castle in the commune of Vernon in the Eure département of France.
The castle originated in 1196, when Philippe Auguste (Philip II of France), fighting against the king of England, Richard the Lionheart, for possession of Normandy, seized Vernon and made the town a military base.
The castle consists of a square tower surrounded by four round turrets, the whole edifice rising to a height of twenty metres.
It is one of the few castles in France which has been practically unchanged for 800 years. The property of the commune since 1955, it has been listed since 1945 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.


The Château du Girsberg (also Guirsberg, formerly named Petit-Ribeaupierre) is one of three castles (with the Château de Saint-Ulrich and the Haut-Ribeaupierre) which overlook the commune of Ribeauvillé in the Haut-Rhin département of France. It stands at an altitude of 528 m.
The Lords of Ribeaupierre built the castle, then named Stein (La Roche), in the 13th century. They rebuilt it after a fire caused by lightning in 1288. In 1304, they gave it to their vassals, the knights of Guirsberg, from whom the castle took its name. The Guirsbergs kept it until they died out in the 15th century. It was abandoned in the 17th century.
The remains currently visible date from several epochs:
13th century : pentagonal keep
14th century : inner court
15th century : corps de logis
It has been listed since 1841 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.


Châtelard Castle is a castle in the municipality of Montreux of the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.


The Chaine Memorial Tower in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is a memorial to James Chaine, a former Member of Parliament for Antrim, who died in 1885. It is a cylindrical stone tower lighthouse with a conical roof, situated on the west side of entrance to Larne Lough.
Chaine developed Larne's short sea route to Scotland as well as establishing the town as a transatlantic port. The memorial, built in 1888, by public subscription, is a replica of an Irish round tower. The memorial is situated at the mouth of Larne harbour, and is reached via Chaine Memorial Road. There is access from Curran Road via Bay Road.


The plaque which adorns the memorial is now difficult to read. It reads that the monument was erected by the...
"....contributions of every class in this mixed community irrespective of creed or party, all cordially united in esteem and affection for the Memory of JAMES CHAINE of Ballycraigy and Cairncastle Co. Antrim who represented this County in the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland from February 1874 till 4 May 1885 when his early and lamented death in his 44th year of his age deprived his native County of one who had worked indefatigably for its interests especially in developing and improving the natural capabilities of the harbour of Larne and establishing its connection with Great Britain, the United States of America and with the inland parts of this County."


In 1885, the Memorial Committee for Chaine sought the assistance of the Commissioners of Irish Lights to help to build and maintain a tower, but they initially refused. Eventually it was agreed the Memorial Committee would build the replica round tower, without a light, at Sandy Point Bay, and the Larne Harbour authority would maintain it. The approved tower was completed in January 1888.
In 1896 it was suggested that a light be added to the tower. As a result, the Commissioners of Irish Lights took over the tower and on 1 July 1899, an oil powered navigational light was installed 22 metres up the tower (the tower being 28 metres in height). The light was installed to aid the navigation of the Hunter Rock, a submerged rock approximately 5 miles off shore. The light was de-manned and converted to coal gas from the Larne mains gas supply in 1905, before finally being converted to electric in September 1935. During April 1948 the supply was changed from DC to AC.
Responsibility for maintaining the light now falls under the remit of the attending keeper at Ferris Point Lighthouse on the other side of the Harbour.


The Chamberlain Memorial, also known as the Chamberlain Memorial Fountain, is a monument in Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, England, erected in 1880 to commemorate the public service of Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914), Birmingham businessman, councillor, mayor, Member of Parliament, and statesman. An inauguration ceremony was held on 20 October 1880, when Chamberlain himself was present.


For the creation of the monument, £3,000 of public funds were raised. It was designed by the architect John Henry Chamberlain – no relation of the statesman, but a personal friend and himself a member of the Liberal elite who dominated civic life in Birmingham at this time. It is 65 feet (20 m) tall and in neo-gothic style, reminiscent of the Albert Memorial. It bears a 50 centimetres (20 in) portrait medallion of Chamberlain by Thomas Woolner on the south side. The carvings of the capitals and the crocketted spire were done by Samuel Barfield of Leicester, John Henry Chamberlain's favourite sculptor. Salviati Burke and Co. of Venice were commissioned to do the mosaics after their success with the Birmingham Council House. It is Grade II listed.


The plaque on the monument reads:
This memorial is erected in gratitude for public service given to this town by Joseph Chamberlain who was elected Town Councillor in November 1869, Mayor in November 1873, and resigned that office in June 1876 on being returned as one of the representatives of the Borough of Birmingham in Parliament. And during whose Mayoralty many great public works were notably advanced. And mainly by whose ability & devotion the Gas & Water Undertakings were acquired for the town to the great and lasting benefit of the inhabitants.
Like the Chamberlain Memorial, the Chamberlain Clock (1903) in the centre of the Jewellery Quarter was also erected during Chamberlain's lifetime.
In the late 1960s, the pools around the fountain were removed, but in 1978, to celebrate their Diamond Jubilee, The Birmingham Civic Society designed and paid for the pools to be reinstated. The Portland stone spire underwent a major clean in 1994.


Many sculptors and architects took to the memorial with dissatisfaction. John Roddis, a local sculptor, described it as "an architectural scarecrow" and "a hash of ornamental details". Nikolaus Pevsner also commented on the memorial in 1966 as an "ungainly combination of shapes".


The Chambly Canal is a National Historic Site of Canada in the Province of Quebec, running along the Richelieu River past Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Carignan, and Chambly. Building commenced in 1831 and the canal opened in 1843. It served as a major commercial route during a time of heightened trade between the United States and Canada. Trade dwindled after World War I, and as of the 1970s, traffic has been replaced by recreational vessels.
It is part of a waterway that connects the Saint Lawrence River with the Hudson River in the United States. Lake Champlain and the Champlain Canal form the U.S. portion of the Lakes to Locks Passage.
The Canal has 10 bridges—8 of which are hand operated—and nine hydraulic locks.
Draft: 6.5 ft (1.98 m)
Clearance: 29 ft (8.84 m)
Canal Length: 20 km (12 mi)
Dimensions of smallest lock: 110 ft × 21 ft (33.53 m × 6.40 m)
Passage time: 3 to 5 hours


The Chandos Glass Cone in Bridgwater, in the English county of Somerset, was built in 1725 as a kiln for a glassworks. The remains have been scheduled as an ancient monument.
After a short period of use for glassmaking the kiln was converted to the production of pottery, bricks and tiles, which undertaking continued until 1939. Most of the cone of brickwork was demolished in 1943. The bottom 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) has been preserved.


The cone was constructed by James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos as part of an industrial development close to the River Parrett, which enabled the transport of raw materials from his other enterprises at Stourbridge. Local sand was used. The cone was in use for glassmaking for but a short time. The business struggled almost from the start and was mismanaged by the Duke's local agents, who were declared bankrupt in 1728. Glass-making ceased in 1734 and then, after several years in which the cone was used as an iron foundry, it became a pottery works with three kilns installed within the cone. Between 1827 and 1939 bricks and tiles were produced in addition to pottery. In the 1870s a railway siding was built between the local and the pottery, which included the construction of the Telescopic Bridge.
The kiln was last used in 1939, and most of the structure was demolished in 1943, after the brickwork at the top of the cone had been found to have "spread". The bricks from the demolished cone were reused in the construction of runways at RAF Merryfield and RAF Weston Zoyland. Some of the pottery and glass found during an excavation of the site in the 1970s is on display at the Blake Museum in Bridgwater. In 2007 a plan was submitted to rebuild the cone in glass and steel as a visitor attraction.


The cone was 33 metres (108 ft) high and 75 feet (23 m) across at the base, however the surviving portion is only 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) high. The cone tapered into a bottle shape which was much narrower at the top than at the base  to provide a natural draft through the structure.


Chang Rong Si Bridge (Thai: สะพานช้างโรงสี, Saphan Chang Rong Si) is a bridge and monument in the Rattanakosin Island area of Phra Nakhon District, the historic centre of Bangkok. The bridge spans Khlong Khu Mueang Doem, the old city moat, and is locate behind the Ministry of Defense and at the front corner of the Ministry of Interior. It signifies the beginning of Bamrung Mueang Road as it continues eastward from Kanlayana Maitri Road. Atsadang Road meets the bridge's eastern foot at the eponymous Saphan Chang Rong Si Intersection, while Rachini Road runs alongside the canal on the opposite side.
The bridge was originally built for elephants that returned from war and was located near a rice mill, hence came the name "Saphan Chang Rong Si", which literally means "elephants' bridge at rice mill". It was originally a wooden bridge and there were  three similar bridges which were later demolished.
During the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), the bridge was restored by Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, the chancellor of the interior, in 1910. The end pieces feature sculptures of dogs' heads that symbolise the year of the dog in the Chinese zodiac.
Chang Rong Si was listed as a registered ancient monument of Bangkok in 1988.


The chapel was inspired and commissioned by local rancher and sculptor Marguerite Brunswig Staude, who had been inspired in 1932 by the newly constructed Empire State Building to build such a church. After an attempt to do so in Budapest, Hungary – with the help of Lloyd Wright, son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright – was abandoned due to the outbreak of World War II, she decided to build the church in her native region.
The chapel's design is by architect August K. Strotz, and the project architect was Richard Hein, both of the Anshen & Allen firm. The chapel is built on Coconino National Forest land; Senator Barry Goldwater assisted Staude in obtaining a special-use permit. The construction supervisor was Fred Coukos, who built the chapel in 18 months at a cost of $300,000. Upwards of 25 tons of rock was moved without the use of dynamite. The chapel was completed in 1956.
The American Institute of Architects gave the Chapel its Award of Honor in 1957. In the sculptor's words, "Though Catholic in faith, as a work of art the Chapel has a universal appeal. Its doors will ever be open to one and all, regardless of creed, that God may come to life in the souls of all men and be a living reality."
In 2007, Arizonans voted the chapel to be one of the Seven Man-Made Wonders of Arizona.


Upon arrival, visitors walk up a ramp from the parking area to the chapel. The long, curved ramp is constructed of textured concrete.
The main feature of the chapel is a 90 ft (27.4 m) tall iron cross on the southwestern wall, which serves both aesthetic and structural purposes. Staude was inspired by the powerful image of the steel framework in the Empire State Building and other skyscrapers. Her idea for the cross was carried out by sculptor Keith Monroe, from San Francisco. The cross holds both the altar and Corpus on the interior.
The walls and cross are constructed with reinforced coarse-aggregate concrete, 1 foot (0.3 m) in thickness. Inside and out, the walls were sandblasted to unveil the textured aggregate. To reduce glare, smokey-gray-colored glass is utilized at the two ends of the chapel. The floor is made of concrete, which is trowel-finished. The front doors are constructed of aluminum with horn-shaped handles.
The effect of the materials pallet combined with the simple angled shapes in the chapel creates an impression of grandeur and strength. This is fitting, as it sits at the base of a 1,500 ft (457.2 m) cliff and is surrounded by massive pieces of sandstone.
The chapel seats up to 150 people. The confessional, office, two sacristies, and services are located in the basement of the building.


The Chapel of the Resurrection (French: Chapelle de la Résurrection, Dutch: Verrijzeniskapel) or Chapel for Europe is a Roman Catholic church with an ecumenical vocation located in the heart of the Brussels' European Quarter (City of Brussels municipality), next to the former Convent Van Maerlant. A precursor of this church, which dated back to the 15th century, was situated in the city centre, but demolished in the course of urban development in 1907. Instead, a replica, externally true to the original, was built at its present location. In 2001, after substantial renovation, the church received its present name and took on its present ecumenical character.


The history of the building goes back to the Chapelle du Saint-Sacrement de Miracle ("Chapel of the Miraculous Sacrament"), which was built on Rue des Sols/Stuiversstraat in the city centre in 1455. Because of urban development measures, the chapel had to give way for the construction of Brussels-Central railway station. The original chapel and adjoining convent was scheduled for demolition and a duplicate was built on Rue Van Maerlant/Van Maerlantstraat by the expropriated Order Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. This new chapel was inaugurated on 14 October 1908. In 1974, the sisters decided to sell the convent—which comprised what is now the entire block—while the main building today accommodates a library and a visitors' centre of the European Commission. The chapel was sold to an international non-profit association constituted under Belgian law, which had been founded by members of the European institutions in order to maintain the chapel as a space for prayer and liturgy. Through donations and contributions of the Catholic Episcopal Conferences of Europe (COMECE), the Conference of European Churches (CEC), the Society of Jesus, the King Baudouin Foundation and numerous other institutions, the chapel was completely renovated and restructured in 1999–2000. On 25 September 2001, Archbishop Godfried Cardinal Daneels officially inaugurated the new church.


While the chapel's neo-Renaissance facade and its exterior remained unchanged, the interior was completely restructured and designed by Marionex Architects, Brussels. Today's building has four storeys: The visitor enters the chapel through a foyer (ground floor), which is used as a meeting and exhibition space. The basement contains a crypt, reserved for silent prayer and worship. The gold-plated cross is a work of the Belgian sculptor Philippe Denis. The liturgical main room is now located on the first floor and is accessible by an interior staircase and a lift.


Since the church has lost its full original height, new windows by the Viennese artist Thomas Reinhold were inserted. The side windows show the themes of Creation, Incarnation, the Burning Bush and Pentecost, whereas the window of the main facade represents the Resurrection. They windows produced by the factory of the Schlierbach convent in Upper Austria and financed by nine Austrian regions. On a side gallery, the chapel has an organ from the workshop Etienne Debaisieux, the instrument being a gift by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). In the floor above, the building accommodates a meeting hall and office rooms (not visible from outside).


The Chapel of the Resurrection is not a parish church. Due to its particular location in a business district and in close proximity to the European institutions (Council of the European Union, European Parliament, European Commission, etc.), it serves as a place of discussion, meeting and prayer linked to these work-places. Therefore, the chapel is opened mostly on weekdays. It offers a wide range of liturgical events, taking in consideration the diversity of confessions, languages and nationalities of this mainly within a mostly "European" public. On the first and third Sundays of each month a Finnish Lutheran communion service is held in the morning as part of the Finnish Seamen's Mission. A Catholic multilingual youth mass takes place every first and third Sunday of each month in the evening. Because of its proximity to the European Union's offices, the chapel is well used by EU civil servants and is used for weddings, baptisms, and memorial services. The chapel is conducted by a pastoral team of religious and lay volunteers. In addition to regular morning prayers (on weekdays), Catholic, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox services are offered, usually at lunch time, in several languages, but mainly in English and French.


The Charles William Jones House (also known as John B. Jones) is a historic home in Pensacola, Florida. It is located at 302 North Barcelona Street. On December 20, 1977, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.


This monastery is located in Indre-et-Loire 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Tours, in the heart of the forest of Loches in the town of Chemillé-sur-Indrois.


From its inception in 1151, Henry II, Count of Anjou and King of England, confirmed his authority and Touraine became the center of the Plantagenet empire stretching from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. The empire made Chinon its capital and encouraged the founding of new monasteries of the Gregorian reform.
It is in this context that in 1153 Henry II allowed four Carthusian hermits from Grande Chartreuse (Grande Chartreuse was founded in 1084 by Saint Bruno), to settle in a place called Ligetum bought from Hervé,  Abbey of Villeloin, to found a monastery. The name "Ligetum", of Germanic origin, refers to a barren place, mostly wooded. The founding deed was dated 1178, was confirmed in 1199 by King John of England and in 1234 by Louis IX of France.
Is the reason behind creation of this monastery to make atonement for the murder of Thomas Becket? No mention of this is made in contemporary documents and the legend seems to rely on an inscription, now lost, which adorned the main gate of the Chartreuse.


Following the example of other Carthusian monasteries, the Liget Carthusians worked quickly to expand their domain.
The gift of Henry II in 1178 included the grounds of Liget and five farms. They were the desert of the hermitage, an area that Chartreux wanted to occupy and for which they had the exclusive right to buy all the land. No acquisition beyond the limits of this "desert" was possible. Yet in 1223, the lands of Craçay stronghold under the lordship of Loches, some 800 metres (2,600 ft) from Chartreuse, were given to Liget by donation. The Carthusians built their Corroirie. This fief supervised many farms making a total of 800 hectares of land, meadows, pastures, gardens and vineyards. There was also more than 500 hectares of forest and 43 hectares of ponds. The initial building had only twelve monastic cells. In 1363, Charles V founded thirteen more and Chartreux was allowed to acquire 300 pounds of annual rent on the royal domain.


Between 1598 (Edict of Nantes) and 1629 (death of the Cardinal of Bérulle), spirituality in France was experiencing a boom period. Eventually the Catholic revival flourished until 1660 under the leadership of theologians and intellectuals like Jacques Gallemant but also zealous priests like Pierre de Bérulle, Vincent de Paul, Francis de Sales and Chartreux Dom Beaucousin, Prior of the Carthusians of Paris. True to their motto, Cartusia nunquam reformata quia nunquam deformata, the Chartreux traversed time without being either reformed or deformed. It was at this time that the Chartreuse Liget received some famous guests: Dom Marc d'Aix, for example, wrote a poem about Madeleine and lived in Liget for 54 years with Alphonse-Louis du Plessis de Richelieu, elder brother of Cardinal Richelieu. He retired in Liget of 1605-1607.
In 1681, the domain of Liget then extended over 1,000 hectares. The hermitage accumulating artifacts abandoned by generous donors like Hippolyte de Béthune, Count of Selles, nephew of the great Sully, who left in 1650 two paintings attributed to Caravaggio, recently discovered in the Church of St. Anthony of Loches.


On November 2, 1789, the National Assembly decided that all ecclesiastical possessions were placed at the disposal of the nation; the following year the property was sold by lots.
On May 10, 1790, a first visit to Chartreuse is made by the agents of District Chemillé-sur-Indrois. After this first visit, they identify 12 Carthusian monks. Two days later, a first inventory of the property took place. Inspectors enumerated 6900 volumes in the library. Heritage Chartreux was valued at 21,000 pounds.
Chartreuse was purchased as property of the state on August 19, 1791 for 25,300 livre by Louis-Victor-Bear Philippe Potier, Court Judge of Loches and John Ondet, a merchant of the same city. The buildings were transformed into stables. The Corroirie was, in turn, sold on June 1, 1791 for 7,000 pounds to Martin Legrand. The departure of the Chartreux seems to be the month of February 1791.


La Chartreuse du Liget, like all Chartreuse monstaries, is composed of two parts: a 'High House' that houses the cells of the Fathers, and 'Lower House' home to Brothers.
On both sides, there must be added, specificity at Liget, an isolated chapel in a clearing not far from the 'High House'.


On plans left by the architect Jacquemin Touraine in 1787, we can get an idea of the buildings that formed the "High House". Located at the bottom of a bowl near a waterhole surrounded by forest, the Upper House at Liget included two courses. The outdoor courtyard was flanked by long buildings containing the common kitchen, bread oven, blacksmith and other workshops. The small cloister or courtyard overlooked the chapter house, refectory, library and church. Behind the church was the large cloister which contained the cemetery. At least 17 individual cells of the monks were in this cloister. Each cell was completely independent. It consisted of a pavilion floor surrounded by a garden.


This chapel, built by Jean Sans Terre in the 12th century, was probably built to commemorate the original establishment of the first Carthusian Fathers at Liget, and shortly after it was founded. The Church of the Chartreuse like this chapel are to be classified in the secondary Romanesque style "Plantagenet". The interior had to be completely covered with frescoes dating from the end of the 12th century or beginning of the 13th century. It was abandoned by the Carthusians from the 16th century.


The monumental entrance gate is in the north wall of the monastery. From the 12th century, it is topped by a tympanum decorated with a bas-relief on the outside of St. Bruno (founder of the Carthusian order) and inside John the Baptist praying, the patron saint of the monastery.
Nothing remains of the Romanesque church, whose construction was completed in 1189, the walls of the nave in four sections. The facade still has its arched door. The arches and the tower which were built on top of the chancel and apse which closed the dormitory have disappeared. Acoustic pottery is embedded in the walls of the nave to improve the sound inside the church.
The rectangular grand cloister - a characteristic architectural element of Carthusian monasteries - whose reconstruction had begun two years before the start of the French Revolution under the direction of Touraine architect Jean-Bernard-Abraham Jacquemin. is badly damaged. Little remains of the west wing. On the walls of grand cloister are still visible several windows that allowed the serving of meals, taken in their cells by hermit monks.
The walls of the protected area of the Chartreuse are high. At each corner was built a watchtower. In the northwest corner of the cloister is a more elaborate watchtower. Such a defense and protection were built following the religious wars during which the monastery was plundered and devastated several times.


A little more than 1 km (0.62 mi) east of the monastery, along the D760 road, the Corroirie retained important vestiges of its buildings.
The fortified gate, rebuilt in the 15th century, is in the form of a square tower provided with a walkway protected by battlements, breached by a door and a postern formerly defended by drawbridges.
The chapel dates from the end of the 12th century, but was raised in the 15th century in two stages; the first is equipped with arrowslits. Its very simple plan has a nave with an apse extended by two four-sided bays.
The prison is a turret isolated from the other buildings. Its only access was through a door opening upstairs; the cell being located on the ground floor.


Archives Départementales d'Indre-et-Loire (Departmental Archives of Indre-et-Loire), H 167 to H 193
Meunier, Christophe (2007). La Chartreuse du Liget. éditions Hugues de Chivré. p. 172. ISBN 978-2-916043-15-9. Meunier2007.
Philippon, Albert (1935). La Chartreuse du Liget (in French). Tours: Mame.
Ranjard, Robert (1986). La Touraine archéologique [Archaeological Touraine] (in French). Mayenne: Imprimerie de la Manutention. ISBN 2-85554-017-8. Ranjard1986.


The records of the organization set the date to 1178, but historians believe that the exact date would be 1188 or rather 1189
"The chartreuse (are) never reformed since (they are) never deformed"
The discovery of two paintings was in 1999 ; the official announcement was made in 2006.
the etymology of Corroirie is still subject to controversy. the word usually refers to an institution for the preparation of leather. Another origin, also likely could come from the ancient French word conréer or corroyer. This polysemous verb means arrange or prepare. The Corroirie is the place where food is prepared, where all that is necessary is made available for the maintenance of the Fathers and Brothers of the Carthusians.


"ARCHIVES Ecclésiastiques Antérieures À 1790 - Inventaire sommaire de la série H Clergé Régulier H 1–987" [Church Records Prior to 1790 - Summary Inventory Series H Regular Clergy H1-987] (PDF) (in French). Conseil Général d'Indre-et-Loire. 1994. Retrieved 2 November 2014..
H 167 page 93 accessed July 8, 2014.


Base Mérimée: Ancienne chartreuse du Liget, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
Base Mérimée: Ancien monastère dit La Corroierie, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
Base Mérimée: Chapelle Saint-Jean-du-Liget, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
Aurell, Martin (7 Jun 2007). The Plantagenet Empire 1154-1224. Routledge. p. 384. ISBN 978-0582784390.
Couderc, Jean-Mary (October 1987). Dictionnaire des communes de Touraine [Dictionary the communes of Touraine] (in French). Chambray-lès-Tours: C.L.D. p. 961. ISBN 2-85443-136-7..
Floreville, Raymonde (June 1986). "Tradition et renouvellement du monachisme dans l'espace Plantagenêt au XII siecle" [Tradition and renewal of monasticism in the context of Plantagenet in the 12th Century.]. Cahiers de civilisation médiévale (in French): 61–73. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
Chélin, Jean. Histoire religieuse de l'Occident médiéval [Religious History of Medieval Europe]. Pluriel (in French). Paris: Hachette. ISBN 978-2012790742.
(Meunier 2007, p. 63).
(Meunier 2007, p. 80)
Deloche, Maximin (1935). Un frère de Richelieu inconnu : chartreux, cardinal, primat des Gaules, ambassadeur [An Unknown Brother of Richelieu: Carthusian, Cardinal Primate of the Gauls, Ambassador] (in French). Paris: Desclée..
"En Touraine, la petite ville de Loches défend ses deux Caravage" [Touraine, the small town of Loches defending its two Caravaggio] (in French). Le Point. 30 April 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
(Meunier 2007, p. 132).
(Meunier 2007, p. 138).
(Ranjard 1986, p. 279).
"Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle/Pot" [Dictionary of French architecture from the eleventh to the sixteenth century / Pot]. WikiSource (in French). 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014..
Vieira, Ludovic (1997). "Une dynastie d'architectes tourangeaux : Les Jacquemin (1720-1869)" [A Touraine architects Dynasty: The Jacquemin (1720-1869)]. Bulletin de la Société archéologique de Touraine (in French). XLV: 261.
(Ranjard 1986, pp. 280–281)
(Ranjard 1986, p. 278)
"Nativité" [Nativity] (in French). Ministère de la Culture (France). Retrieved 6 January 2021.


Chateau-sur-Mer is one of the first grand Bellevue Avenue mansions of the Gilded Age in Newport, Rhode Island. Located at 424 Bellevue Avenue, it is now owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County and is open to the public as a museum. Chateau-sur-Mer's grand scale and lavish parties ushered in the Gilded Age of Newport, as it was the most palatial residence in Newport until the Vanderbilt houses in the 1890s.  It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006.


Chateau-sur-Mer was completed in 1852 as an Italianate villa for William Shepard Wetmore, a merchant in the Old China Trade originally of St. Albans, Vermont. The architect and builder was Seth C. Bradford, and the structure is constructed of Fall River Granite. It is regarded as a landmark of Victorian architecture, furniture, wallpapers, ceramics, and stenciling.
Wetmore died on June 16, 1862, at Chateau-sur-Mer, leaving the bulk of his fortune to his son George Peabody Wetmore.  George married Edith Keteltas in 1869. During the 1870s, the Wetmores departed on an extended trip to Europe, leaving architect Richard Morris Hunt to remodel and redecorate the house in the French Second Empire style. As a result, Chateau-sur-Mer displays most of the major design trends of the last half of the 19th century. Hunt's alterations greatly expanded the house, adding a new three-story wing, a porte-cochere, and a projecting four-story tower with mansard roof.  The carriage house was also enlarged, in a manner sympathetic to Bradford's original design.  Hunt also designed the entrance gate of the estate which is somewhat Greek Revival in style, but with posts modeled after Egyptian obelisks.
The centerpiece of the mansion's interior is its great hall, a massive three-story chamber with a 45-foot (14 m) ceiling and broad balconies.  The billiard room is in the Eastlake style, with oak timbers aligned diagonally on the ceiling and herringbone flooring.  The library has an Italianate design and was actually designed and built in Italy, then disassembled and transported to Newport.  The marble hallway originally served as the house's main entrance and is finished with a variety of different marble colors.  It was closed off in 1920 by replacing the main door with a bay window.  The green room served as a ladies' reception area and was designed in 1900 by Ogden Codman, Jr. in the Louis XV style.  The ballroom is decorated with crystal chandeliers and fine plaster, one of the few rooms that remained relatively unaltered by Hunt's work.  The dining room is in Renaissance Revival style and was also built in Italy.
Chateau-sur-Mer was one of the few Newport "cottages" built as a year-round residence, unlike most of the others built during this period, because the Wetmores were a New England family who made Newport their home.  George was very active in Rhode Island politics during the late 19th century and a lifelong Republican. He was a member of the Electoral College of 1880 and again in 1884; he was elected Governor of Rhode Island in 1885 and went on to win re-election in 1886, but he was defeated in an attempt for a third term in 1887.  In 1894, the Rhode Island General Assembly elected him to the United States Senate, where he remained until 1913.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1968 and purchased by the Preservation Society of Newport County in 1969.  It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006. The former carriage house and stables for the Chateau-Sur-Mer estate are owned by Salve Regina University and are currently being renovated as a center for visual art and preservation known as Wetmore Hall.


The idea to erect a monument to Chekhov first came from the authorities in 1910. In 1944 the Council of People's Commissars decreed to erect a monument to Chekhov to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the writer's death.
By October 1954, 18 projects of the statue were submitted, and all of them were exposed to the public in the Local Lore Museum of Taganrog. Three years later the Second Nationwide Contest was held in Moscow, where 30 projects of the statue were submitted. After the second round the best works were sent to Taganrog where the statue by Iulian Rukavishnikov earned universal approval.
The monument comprises a granite pedestal and a bronze statue showing Chekhov impeccably dressed, sitting on the stone, looking into the distance and holding a book in his right hand, his forefinger between pages as though the writer is reflecting on something deep. The height of the monument is 3 m (9.84 f.).
The Chekhov Square was planted in the Red Square (in front of Alexandrovskiye Trade Rows) in Taganrog in 1934 to mark the writers 75th anniversary in 1935.
The Chekhov Monument acts as a tribute paid by the people of Taganrog to their most renowned fellow townsman.
On January 29, 2010 Russian President Dmitri Medvedev laid flowers to the monument within the framework of commemorative events of the 150th birth anniversary of Anton Chekhov in Taganrog.


The Chellah or Shalla (Berber languages: Sla or Calla; Arabic: شالة), is a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis and ancient archeological site in Rabat, Morocco, located on the south (left) side of the Bou Regreg estuary. The earliest evidence of the site's occupation suggests that the Phoenicians established a trading emporium here in the first millennium BC. This was later the site of Sala Colonia, an ancient Roman colony in the province of Mauretania Tingitana, before it was abandoned in Late Antiquity. In the late 13th century the site began to be used as a dynastic necropolis for the Marinid dynasty. By the mid-14th century Marinid sultans had enclosed a part of the site with a new set of walls and built a religious complex inside it to accompany their mausoleums. In the 15th century the necropolis began to decline and it suffered damage over the centuries due to earthquakes and looting. Archeological excavations in the 20th century unearthed the remains of the ancient Roman town. Today the site is a tourist attraction and since 2012 it forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


The Phoenicians founded several trading colonies along the Atlantic coast of what is now Morocco, but the existence of a Phoenician settlement on the site of Chellah has been debated by archeologists. Jean Boube, who led some of the modern excavations at the site, discovered neo-Punic artifacts dating as far back as the 3rd century BC, which suggests there must have been a small trading post here around that time. Later excavations by Boube also found fragments of Phoenician or Punic bowls dating to the 7th and early 6th centuries BC, but it is possible that such early items were imported by trade rather than being evidence of occupation. The settlement along the banks of the Bou Regreg was known as Shalat (Punic: 𐤔𐤏𐤋𐤕, šʿlt), which appears to derive from the Punic word for "rock".


By the first century BC the local inhabitants were still writing in the neo-Punic language but the region came under the influence of Rome. At this time the area was occupied by the ancient Berber Mauretanian Kingdom. Under its last two rulers, Juba II and Ptolemy, the Mauretanian kingdom became a client state of Rome. Some relics from the time of these two kings have been discovered at Chellah. After the death of Ptolemy in 40 AD the region was annexed by Rome and became the province of Mauretania Tingitana.
On this site the Romans built their own city, Sala Colonia. The Roman town was referred to as "Sala" by Ptolemy, a 2nd-century writer. Excavations have revealed that older Mauretanian structures existed on the site before Roman structures were built over them. For the Roman period, they show a substantial port city with ruined Roman architectural elements including a decumanus maximus or principal roadway, a forum and a triumphal arch. The area around the forum, excavated and visible today, was subjected to many transformations over time and the exact chronology of these is still debated. Inscriptions found on site show that the city had the status of a municipium around the mid-2nd century AD.
One of the two main Roman roads in Mauretania Tingitana reached the Atlantic through Iulia Constantia Zilil (Asilah), Lixus (Larache) and Sala Colonia. Another may have been built towards the south, from Sala to modern Casablanca, then called Anfa. The Romans had two main naval outposts on the Atlantic coast of the province: Sala Colonia, and Lixus. The port of Sala (now disappeared) was used by commercial Roman ships as a way station on their southwestward passages to Anfa and the Insula Purpuraria (Mogador island).
Sala remained linked to the Roman Empire even after the withdrawal in the 4th century of the occupying Roman legions to Tingis (Tangier) and Septem (Ceuta) in northern Mauretania Tingitana. A Roman military unit remained there until the end of the 5th century. Some of the major monuments of the town were abandoned around this time. The site of the large capitolium temple, for example, was turned into a cemetery and a dumping ground during the 4th century. Archaeological objects of Visigothic and Byzantine origin found in the area attest to the persistence of commercial or political contacts between Sala and Roman Europe, up to the establishment of a Byzantine presence in North Africa during the 7th century. Fragments of pottery with Christian motifs and graffiti have also been found among objects dating from the 4th to 6th centuries.


During the Marinid period the site of ancient Sala was re-appropriated and turned into a royal necropolis for the ruling dynasty, now known as Chellah (Arabic: شالة, romanized: Shāllah). Because of its ruined condition today, the exact chronology of its development is not well known. The first Marinid constructions and the first royal burial were in 1284–85, when sultan Abu Yusuf Ya'qub chose the site to bury his wife, Umm al-'Izz. He built a small mosque (still extant) next to her tomb. The tomb itself was a qubba, a small mausoleum chamber covered by a dome or pyramidal roof. The sultan himself was buried next to her after his death in Algeciras in 1286. His son and successor, Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, was buried at the site after his death in 1307, and his successor, Abu Thabit 'Amir, was buried near Abu Ya'qub Yusuf in 1308.
The most important Marinid constructions appear to have occurred during the reigns of Abu Sa'id Uthman II (r. 1310–1331) and his son, Abu al-Hasan (r. 1331–1348; also known as the Black Sultan). Abu Sa'id enclosed the area with a set of walls and began construction of the main gate. According to some sources he was buried in this necropolis too after his death in 1331, though Ibn Khaldun wrote that he was buried in Fez. Construction of the main gate was finished by Abu al-Hasan, as evidenced by an inscription on it which dates its completion to July 1339 (Dhu al-Qadah 739 AH) and refers to the complex as a "ribat". During Abu al-Hasan's lifetime one of his wives, Shams al-Ḍuḥa (the mother of Abu Inan), was buried here in 1349. One of his sons, Abu Malik, may have also been buried in the necropolis in 1339. After his death in exile in 1351, Abu al-Hasan's body was buried in a mausoleum here as well, near his wife. This mausoleum may have been finished by his son and successor, Abu Inan (r. 1348–1358). Abu Inan may have also been responsible for building or completing the madrasa (Islamic college) and the prominent minaret that adjoin the mosque and mausoleums. He set up a charitable endowment (waqf) to fund the operations of the religious complex. Remains at the site today also show that the necropolis was accompanied by a residential quarter to the north, complete with a water supply system. A preserved hammam (bathhouse) from this period also stands near the far eastern corner of the walled enclosure.
Abu al-Hasan was the last sultan to be buried here. Abu Inan is believed to have been buried at the Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid and other Marinid sultans after him were mostly buried at the Marinid Tombs in Fez or other sites. Other Marinid family members, such as Abu Inan's sister and other princes, were still occasionally buried at Chellah. Between 1360 and 1363 Ibn al-Khatib, the vizier of the Nasrid sultan Muhammad V, visited the site during his master's exile from Granada and mentioned it in his writings. He described the luxurious decoration of the tombs and noted that a large fragment of a kiswah (the cloth that covers the Ka'ba in Mecca) was draped over the tomb of Abu al-Hasan.


After the Marinid period the necropolis declined. It was pillaged for the first time by Ahmad al-Liḥyani, a pretender to the Marinid throne based in Meknes between 1417 and 1437. Although he and other pretenders were eventually suppressed by Abu Zakariya Yahya, the regent and de facto Wattasid ruler between 1420 and 1448, the Wattasids chose not to try and restore the necropolis. Many of the remaining structures in Chellah were damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and fell into ruins. The 'Alawi sultans stationed soldiers here afterwards to prevent further looting, but in the late 18th century an Arab tribe, the Ṣabbaḥ, took possession of the enclosure until in 1790 sultan Moulay Yazid charged the governor of Salé, Abu Ya'za al-Qasṭali, with removing them. During this episode the necropolis was again looted.
Despite this decline, the site acquired local religious importance over time. At some point, sufis began to inhabit the site and the madrasa was reused as a zawiya (sufi religious and educational center). The zawiya also became the object of a local pilgrimage, with locals believing that a visit here could be a substitute for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca for those who couldn't afford that long journey. As part of their visit, pilgrims performed a circumambulation (tawaf) of the madrasa's mihrab. Popular legends also grew around the tombs. The tomb of Shams al-Ḍuḥa came to be popularly known as the tomb of a girl named Lalla Chella, to which the site's name was popularly attributed. Another domed tomb near the pool next to the Marinid mausoleums is believed to be that of Sidi Yahya ibn Yunus, a saint who allegedly lived a hundred years before the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Some local beliefs, especially among women, associated beneficial maraboutic powers to some of the animals, like the eels and turtles, that lived in the pools here. For example, it was believed that feeding the eels could aid fertility and childbirth. Legends about buried treasures also led to illegal excavations at times and pushed authorities in the 20th century to move some of the most important objects in the necropolis to museums in Rabat.
The remains of the ancient Roman city were first identified in the late 19th century by French geographer Charles Tissot. The first investigation and study of the Islamic-era remains were carried out by Henri Basset and Évariste Lévi-Provençal in 1922. The first excavations of the Roman city were carried out in 1929–30 under the supervision of Jules Borély, head of the Service des Beaux-Arts, an agency of the French Protectorate in Morocco at that time. This initial work cleared away vegetation from the ruined mosque and unearthed a large portion of the "monumental" Roman quarter visible today.  Excavations did not take place again until 1958, after Moroccan independence, when the head of the Service des Antiquités du Maroc, Maurice Euzennat, appointed Jean Boube to begin a new campaign of excavations. Excavations continued on and off until 1996, unearthing the rest of the structures now visible.
Today, the site of Chellah has been converted to a garden and tourist attraction. It is part of the metropolitan area of Rabat. The site, as part of historic Rabat, was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2012. It's also notable for hosting a large colony of storks, who nest in the trees as well as on the minaret of the ruined zawiya.


The excavated portion of the Roman city covers about 1.2 hectares and corresponds to the "monumental" district around the forum, where the most important public buildings stood. The city was built on a sloped site and consequently its buildings were constructed upon a series of artificial terraces, with at least three terraces visible today. Streets were laid out in a regular grid and the two most important streets were the decumanus maximus and the cardo maximus.
At the eastern end of the excavated area is the forum. It is flanked on its north side by a structure standing on higher ground which has been identified as a "temple" with five cellae. On the south side of the plaza, on a lower level, is a long building with nine rooms, possibly tabernae (shops), that open onto another street. The dating of the temple and the adjoining forum has been debated. Jean Boube dated the temple to the mid-first century BC, which would make it a Mauretanian structure (before the region was annexed as a Roman province). Statues of the Mauretanian client kings Juba II and Ptolemy have been found here, leading Boube to suggest the temple was originally dedicated to them. Other archeologists have argued that it belongs instead to the Roman period (after annexation). More recent studies have again suggested a pre-Roman dating, based on the construction techniques present.
On the west side of the forum is another wide paved space which may have been an additional forum (forum adiectum) or a part of the decumanus maximus. Boube dated it to the reigns of Trajan (r. 98–117) and Hadrian (r. 117–138). The largest structure here, on the northwest side, is the capitolium or capitoline temple. The temple is built on two levels and has a rectangular floor plan, measuring about 48 metres by 26 metres, with rounded corners on its west side. On the lower level were nine vaulted tabernae chambers which opened onto the paved area next to the temple and formed a part of the temple's substructure. The upper level was the temple proper, consisting of single cella and a pronaos (vestibule chamber), elevated on a podium and surrounded on three sides by a portico of 32 columns. The parts of the temple that were built above the tabernae have collapsed. Roman inscriptions found on site confirm that the temple was built in the time of Hadrian and possibly inaugurated around 120 AD. Its construction was funded by a private citizen, a military official named C. Hosidius Severus, who gifted it to the people of the city.
The other major building in this western area is located directly opposite the capitolium, to the south and near the perimeter wall of the Marinid religious complex. This building is poorly-preserved and has been tentatively identified as either a curia (the Curia Ulpia) or as a basilica. Its construction is likely contemporary with that of the nearby capitolium. It has a rectangular floor plan measuring about 32 by 19 metres. At its center is a large octagonal opening, with niches set along its interior walls, that corresponds to an underground nymphaeum that once extended further up to the ground level of the building.
Between the capitolium and the curia/basilica are the remains of a triumphal arch. Only the base of the arch remains and therefore not much is known for certain about it. It may date from the time of Hadrian, like the surrounding buildings, but another hypothesis has dated it to around the time of Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161). Various other structures are scattered around the site, including two more structures identified as temples to the east of the capitolium. Remains of a Roman bath are found in the eastern part of the site, between the Marinid madrasa and the Islamic-era bathhouse.


The area enclosed by the Marinid walls is roughly pentagonal in shape and is smaller than the former Roman city. Most of the Marinid structures inside are contained within a religious complex in the southeastern part of the enclosure, called the khalwa (Arabic: خلوة). Outside this complex there is also a hammam in the far eastern corner of the enclosure and a residential complex located just inside the main gate. The khalwa consists principally of a mosque, a madrasa, a cemetery with multiple mausoleums, and several courtyards. Its layout is irregular and complicated due to the addition of various elements over different periods. On its southwest side is a pool whose water comes from the spring of 'Ayn al-Janna (Arabic: عين ألجنّا, lit. 'spring/source of paradise'). The pool was originally the latrines and ablutions facility of the 13th-century mosque, but at some point it became submerged due to water seeping in from underground and it is now inhabited by eels.


The rampart walls surrounded the site are built in rammed earth (or pisé). They are pierced by three gates and interspersed with defensive towers. The towers typically have a square base and contain three levels inside. The most monumental gate is in the northwestern part of the enclosure and is built in brick and cut stone with carved ornamentation. It is one of the most exceptional gates built by the Marinids, demonstrating influences from earlier monumental gates built by the Almohads (e.g. Bab er-Rouah and Bab Oudaya). The gate's façade is decorated with two polylobed arch motifs around the pointed horseshoe-shaped archway. The spandrels of the arch are filled with a foliate arabesque motif featuring a carved shell at their centers. The whole composition is framed by a rectangular frieze (an alfiz) containing a Kufic Arabic inscription that details the construction of the gate. The gate is flanked by two towers that have prismatic or semi-octagonal bases but are crowned with square turrets. The transition from the semi-octagonal body of the tower to the square turret above is accomplished with the use of muqarnas in the corners. Inside, the gate has a bent passage that turns 90 degrees. The inner façade of the gate, facing towards the religious complex, is decorated with simpler version of the motifs seen on the outside of the gate.


The mosque, located in the center of the southwestern half of the complex, is a hypostyle hall. It is divided into three naves by two rows of horseshoe arches. Two more rows of arches, perpendicular to the others, delimit a central aisle running towards the mihrab on the southeastern wall. At the mosque's southwest corner is a small, partly-ruined minaret with a square base and polylobed-arch windows. Outside the mosque, near the minaret, is a small water basin or well that was used for ablutions fed by a local spring. Behind the qibla wall of the mosque, on its southeast side, is a rawda (Arabic: الروضة) or garden cemetery. It consists of a long enclosure with at least four ruined mausoleums and a number of other graves scattered across the open space. According to Basset and Lévi-Provençal, the three mausoleums adjoined to the back wall of the mosque include the tomb of Sultan Abu Sa'id (d. 1331) and the tomb of Shams al-Ḍuḥa (d. 1349). Each tomb is a qubba or square chamber that was probably once covered by a dome or a pyramidal tiled roof, similar to other mausoleums in Morocco. These tombs are largely ruined and contain only small fragments of their former decoration.
The ruined qubba further south, set against the perimeter wall of the complex, belongs to Sultan Abu al-Hasan (d. 1351). This is the most richly-decorated tomb in the complex and is better-preserved than the other tombs. Its remaining walls are covered in elaborate low-relief decoration carved in stone. The back wall inside the mausoleum has a central double-arched niche framed by an epigraphic frieze containing verses 30 and 31 of Surah XVI from the Qur'an. This in turn is surrounded by geometric decoration and more epigraphic decoration. Zellij (mosaic tilework) decorated the lower portions of the wall. Three windows are pierced above this. The exterior side of this wall, facing out from the complex, is carved with two rectangular friezes, one filled with an ornate Kufic inscription and the other with a Naskhi (cursive) inscription. The Kufic inscription includes verse 185 of Surah III, while the Naskhi inscription is a dedication to Abu al-Hasan. These two friezes enclose a central rectangular zone filled with sebka decoration above three blind polylobed arches with small colonettes. The negative spaces inside the sebka pattern are each carved with another motif including a shell or palmette, while the blind arches below are filled with arabesques (for the side arches) and with a repeating calligram in "knotted" Kufic (for the central arch). Above this runs another small blind arcade and a muqarnas cornice above it.
Most of the northeastern half of the complex is occupied by a building which scholars believe was most likely a madrasa, though two surviving inscriptions refer to it as a "zawiya". Similar to other madrasas of the era, it consists of an elongated rectangular courtyard with a rectangular pool at its center. At each end of the basin are two small circular basins with fountains that provided water for the pool. The courtyard was once surrounded by a peristyle portico supported by marble columns, no longer standing. Behind the portico, on the two long sides of the courtyard, are a number of small rooms which served as sleeping quarters for students. Two staircases provided access to an upper floor above this, probably with a similar layout. The courtyard was paved and decorated with intricate zellij (mosaic tilework), parts of which survive. At the southeast end of the courtyard a doorway leads to a rectangular hall that served as a prayer room. A mihrab was set in the back wall here. Unusually, the mihrab is surrounded by a narrow passage that runs around and behind it. This passage may have been used by pilgrims who circumambulated it. At the northeastern corner of the madrasa is a preserved minaret, about 15 metres tall and prominently visible from most of the site. Its main shaft has a traditional square base and its four facades are each decorated with a sebka composition above two blind polylobed arches (each enclosing small windows). The negative spaces within these motifs are filled with zellij tile decoration.
In addition to Abu al-Hasan's mausoleum, one of the most exceptional examples of decoration in the complex is the gateway that leads towards the madrasa from the forecourt on the north side of the mosque. The gate, a horseshoe arch, is framed by a rectangular frieze or alfiz filled with geometric star patterns in zellij tiling. The spandrels of the archway are filled with arabesque motifs and a polylobed arch motif, similar to the monumental main gate of the complex, but instead of carved stone they are executed in highly colourful zellij tiling. The decoration of this gateway also has similarities to the gate of the Sidi Boumediene Complex in Tlemcen (present-day Algeria), suggesting that the same team of artisans may have been involved in both designs.


The hammam (Islamic bathhouse) of Chellah has a roughly rectangular floor plan measuring 28.5 by 10.4 metres. Henri Terrasse estimated that its construction was contemporary with the other major Marinid structures in Chellah and that it took place between 1339 and 1358. It was restored in the 20th century. It shares general similarities with other historic hammams in this part of the Islamic world. It consists of a changing room near the entrance (equivalent to the Roman apodyterium), followed by a cold room (equivalent to the frigidarium), a warm room (equivalent to the tepidarium), and a hot room (equivalent to the caldarium). Another chamber behind the hot room contained the furnace that heated the baths and its water via the traditional hypocaust system. A small chamber near the changing room probably contained the latrines. The hammam was entered from a gate at its west corner. The changing room consisted of a central square space flanked by two small rectangular galleries divided from it by a row of arches supported by columns. This room was probably the most decorated space in the building, though no decoration has been preserved today. The central square space was probably covered by an ornate wooden vault ceiling while the galleries were covered by groin vaults. The cold room and hot room are both roofed by groin vaults, while the warm room between them is larger and is roofed by two cloister vaults.


Since 2005, the ruins of Chella host an international "Festival of Jazz" each year, called Jazz au Chellah. Additionally, it is currently home to a venue of the annual Mawazine music festival in Rabat, usually showcasing jazz or traditional music, as opposed to more popular contemporary music featured at some of the larger venues.


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Cheltenham Racecourse railway station serves Cheltenham Racecourse on the outskirts of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
On the ex-Great Western Railway Cheltenham to Stratford line, the station opened in 1912 to serve the new racecourse at Prestbury Park, home of the famous Gold Cup meeting. The platforms were later extended to accommodate trains of up to 14 carriages. The station was only opened on race days and so facilities were rudimentary, but it continued to serve racegoers until the 1976 Cheltenham Festival.
Although most of the stations on the line closed in 1960, the line itself remained open for non-stop passenger services until 1968. Special trains on racedays only served Cheltenham Racecourse station from 1971 until 1976. The line was also used as a diversionary route with no scheduled passenger services until 1976, when a freight train derailed at Winchcombe and damaged the track. The line was officially closed in the same year; the track was lifted shortly afterward.
Cheltenham Racecourse is now the southern terminus of the 12-mile-long heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, run entirely by volunteers. The line has been reopened in stages. The line trackbed itself was bought in 1984. The track from Gotherington to the racecourse was relaid in 2001. The line was reopened as a heritage railway by the Princess Royal on 7 April 2003.
The station is in a cutting fringed by Corsican pine trees. Its northern end, where it emerges from the cutting, affords views towards Cleeve Hill. The original station booking office is believed to be the only remaining example of a Swindon-built flatpack prefabricated building that was brought by train and assembled on site. It is perched at the top of the cutting, next to the A435 roadbridge and close to the main entrance of the racecourse. It has a collection of artifacts housed within it. A gentle slope gives access to the platform where there is a new station building with a canopy, toilets and waiting room. The station has two tracks, one adjacent to the platform and the other to allow locomotives to run around the train. A new signal box was opened in 2005 to control the signals and point work around the station.
Access to the station by car is only via the main racecourse entrance. There is a large free car park. A bus service runs from the Network Rail Cheltenham Spa station, through the town centre to the Racecourse Park and Ride, about 10 minutes walk from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway station.


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In 2012, as part of a new Development Foundation, the GWSR launched an appeal to reconstruct Platform 2 at Cheltenham Racecourse station. Reconstruction of Platform 2 was completed in 2016.


Chembra Peak (Chembra Mala) is a mountain in the state of Kerala, India, with an elevation of 2,100 m (6,890 ft) above sea level. The highest peak in the Wayanad hills and one of the highest peaks in the Western Ghats, adjoining the Nilgiri Hills and Vellarimala, it is located in the Wayanad district of Kerala, near the town of Meppadi and 8 km (5 mi) south of Kalpetta.
Visits to the peak are organized by the "Chempra Peak VSS" under the control of the South Wayanad Forest Development Agency; guides are provided for trekking. Chembra Peak is accessible by foot from Meppadi. The District Tourism Promotion Council provides guides and trekking equipment to tourists for fees. Banasura Sagar Dam and Banasura Hill is also nearby.


Chenies Palace in the parish of Chenies in Buckinghamshire, England, is a Tudor Grade I listed building once known as Chenies Manor House, although it was never a royal seat nor the seat of a bishop. It was held by the Cheney family since 1180 and passed by marriage successively to the Semark and Sapcote families and thence in 1526 to the Russell family, Earls of Bedford, later Dukes of Bedford, by whom it was held for several centuries. Although the Russells soon abandoned Chenies as its main seat in favour of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, Chenies parish church remains the site of the private "Bedford Chapel", the mausoleum still in use by that family.
John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford set about improving the house both as his home and enlarging it to the size and standard needed to house the royal court, so he could host visits from the king. The house was probably constructed by him around 1530–1550, while the significantly larger north range, which included the royal apartments, has been demolished. Russell had a meteoric career as an advisor to successive monarchs, becoming wealthy and titled and acquiring other properties. By about 1608 Woburn Abbey had become the principal family residence. Thereafter Chenies became increasingly neglected; the surviving buildings are the ones which were still considered practical.
At the northern end of the west wing, there is an undercroft from the previous medieval manor house which occupied the same site, which is a scheduled ancient monument (SM 27145).


The buildings are situated at a high point in the local landscape, 400 yards (370 m) south of the River Chess, which forms the boundary between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. The general area shows evidence of occupation in Roman times, including a villa found to the north east of the church, which was occupied between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. A house on this site is recorded to have existed in 1165, when the locality was known as Isenhampstead. There is no specific mention of the settlement in the Domesday Book, but it is thought to have then formed part of the Manor of Chesham. The church of St Michael stands directly to the east of the current manor and has parts dating back to the 12th century, although it was extensively reconstructed at later times. A watermill also stood, on the nearby river, in the 12th century.
The first recorded Cheyne to own the property was Alexander Cheyne. It passed to his son John, who was sheriff of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire in 1278, and who was granted a knighthood. On his death in 1285 it was given to Edward I in payment of debts, when it was valued at £11 4s 3d. John's widow continued to draw a pension from the estate, and it was returned to Bartholemew Cheyne in 1296. There are records that the king stayed at Isenhampstead in 1290, which suggest a substantial house existed at that time.
The estate was referred to as Isenhampsted Chenies in 1321, distinguishing it from Isenhampstead Latimer. By that time it had passed to Bartholemew's son Alexander, and then by 1350 to his son Sir John Cheyne, who was also sheriff of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. Sir John was sentenced to death in 1397, commuted to life imprisonment, for being a Lollard. His successor, John Cheyne, was a member of parliament in 1413 and 1425, and also served two terms as sheriff. The estate was then transferred by John and his son Alexander to another relative, Thomas Cheyne and from there passed to Thomas' brother John Cheyne, Lord of Drayton Beauchamp. On his death the property remained with his widow as they had no children, and although she remarried was left in 1500 to her niece Anne Philip. On Anne's death in 1510 the property was left to her grand daughter Anne Sapcote. She married John Broughton, but after his death in 1518 she married again in 1526 to John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, and thus the property entered the second significant family in its history.
John Cheyne's widow, Lady Agnes Cheyne, left the manor house in a contested will to her niece, Anne Semark, wife of Sir David Phelip, in 1494. It is believed Chenies passed to the Semark family of Thornhaugh, Northamptonshire, to re-promote the family at court. The Sapcote family was on the losing side with Richard at Battle of Bosworth Field, where Henry VII claimed the throne for the House of Tudor. Phelip married Ann Semark after Bosworth, Phelip had a close friendship with the Cecils of Burghley, the Cecils and Semark were kin.


John Russell was a rising man in Tudor England, who from a modest gentry background created a dynasty by being a loyal servant to Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Edward VI, for which he was well rewarded. He fought in wars, was knighted, joined the royal household and became a gentleman of the Privy Chamber to both Henry VII and Henry VIII, became a diplomat responsible for secret negotiations, member of parliament, privy councillor, Lord High Admiral, in 1539 Baron Russell of Chenies, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and one of the executors of Henry VIII's will. In 1550 he was created Earl of Bedford during the regency for Edward VI, and was reappointed Lord Privy Seal by Queen Mary after Edward's death. On the occasion of his marriage to Anne and acquisition of Chenies, the king gave him a wedding present of the neighbouring Manor of Amersham. At that time, the income from three manors which were the property of his new wife, Chenies, Thornaugh and Covington was £70 per annum, while Amersham was valued at £43 per annum (at this time, the crown typically granted lands to new landholders for a fee of twenty times their annual income). Part of the Chenies lands were enfeoffed, transferred to a new landholder in exchange for taking on feudal obligations which came with the manor. Russell made improvements to the house, and was probably responsible for the south wing.
Henry VIII is known to have visited the manor several times, with a court and retinue which might amount to 1000 persons. In 1534 he attended together with Anne Boleyn and Princess Elizabeth, and was probably there at the time of the execution of Sir Thomas More. In 1541 he visited with Katherine Howard, and the house was mentioned in evidence against her as somewhere she had committed adultery with Thomas Culpepper. Sir John Leland visited the house in 1544 and wrote:
"The old house of Cheynies is so translated by my Lord Russell that little or nothing of it in a manner remaineth untranslated: and a great deal of the house has been newly set up made of brick and timber: and fair lodgings be new erected in the garden. The house is within diverse places richly painted with antique works of white and Black. And there be about the House two Parkes as I remember. The Manor Place standeth at the West Ende of the Parishe Churche. In the Parishe Churche on the North side of it, as in a Chapelle, be two Tumbes of the Cheynies Lords of the Manor and the small village bearing their name".(Leland’s Itinerary, fol 122)
One of the deer parks is described in a lease made in 1571 as covering  as 484 acres. John Russell died in 1555 and was succeeded by his only son Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford. Francis had been part of the attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the English throne instead of the catholic Mary, and as a result had been imprisoned and then exiled. He took part in the Battle of St. Quentin  (1557), which involved Spanish and French forces, and had recovered some royal favour by the end of Mary's reign. On the accession of Queen Elizabeth I he became a Privy Councillor and became a trusted member of the government as his father had been. In 1560 the house was restyled by Francis, who had made it his principal home. Queen Elizabeth visited the house in July 1570 and stayed for four weeks. Records exist of a survey of the house listing repairs and alterations in preparation for the visit, including 18 square feet of glass for the Queen's rooms.
Francis died in 1585 with significant debts. An inventory of Chenies was drawn up for the purposes of a sale of household goods and reveals many details about the house: It had nine principal bedrooms, three kitchens and an armoury with equipment for fifty men. There were two separate ranges of buildings for the accommodation of servants. Francis's widow died in 1601, when living at Woburn Abbey, and her will listed Chenies as unfurnished and unoccupied.
Francis was succeeded by his grandson Edward Russell, 3rd Earl of Bedford, who was part of the abortive Essex Rebellion against the queen led by the Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. As a result, he was fined £10,000 and confined under house arrest at Chenies. The family fortunes revived after 1603 when King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne as James I, and Francis's wife became a Lady of the Bedchamber to his wife Anne of Denmark, which role required her to live in Edinburgh. In 1608 Chenies was again in the hands of servants and the Russell family never returned.
In 1627 the estate passed to Edward's cousin Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford, who had become a member of parliament and a supporter of the parliamentary side in the growing conflict between king and parliament. Francis died in May 1641 before the Civil War broke out, but his son William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford was also on the parliamentary side, and Chenies was garrisoned with parliamentary troops. Graffiti found in the surviving medieval undercroft suggest that it might have been used as a prison at this time. William was part of the peace faction which sought to come to terms with the king, briefly defecting to the king during 1643, so that he took part in battles on both sides. William had an uneasy relationship with King Charles II after the Restoration of the Monarchy, but returned to favour in the reign of William and Mary, when he was created Duke of Bedford in 1694. By this time the Russell family had developed their estates in London (Bloomsbury and Covent Garden) as well as their other holdings around the country, and Chenies was very much a backwater to their personal and financial lives. However, the family continues to this day to be buried in the Bedford Chapel on the north side of Chenies parish church, next to the manor house.
In 1728 what is now the west wing was let as a farmhouse for £23 per annum. The south wing was largely empty. In 1735 the steward reported, "Chenies place is a very large old house, brick built with some very large and lofty rooms, but the apartments are not very regular and of not more value than to be pulled down."  In 1746 the steward made a report on the number of windows because of the newly increased window tax, which went up from a maximum of 22 shillings for houses with 30 or more windows, to 2 shillings plus 1 shilling for each window: "The uninhabited part hath about 54, in the apartment I live in 34. Mr Davies hath 28. As to the 54, they may all be stopped up  except 4 or 5, which rooms we lay up the old materials....Out of the 34 in my appartment [sic] I can spare 12 or 14." The tax continued to escalate on larger houses in future decades. In 1749 Horace Walpole visited the house, and reported that it consisted of buildings on three sides of a quadrangle, in very poor repair with some of the roofs missing. He noted that some of the stained glass remained fine; not long afterwards it was removed. Window taxes may have led to the odd look of the southern, sunny, side of the south wing, which might have been expected to look out on gardens, but where there are now very few windows. The entire north range may have been demolished at this time.
By 1760 the south wing had been divided into 5 separate dwellings, with additional doors and stairs. The steward recommended that it would be best to demolish the building entirely, but some repairs were undertaken including new window frames. In about 1830 the architect Edward Blore was hired by Lord Wriothesey Russell to undertake further renovation. In 1840 a Tudor building attached to the west wing was demolished and rebuilt, with two bay windows added.
The manor remained in the possession of the Russells until it was sold in 1954. It is at present owned by the Macleod Matthews family, whose home it is. It is open to the public at limited times, being still used as a private house most of the time. It includes a medieval well, a dungeon and a reputed priest hole. Twenty-three individual-cut brick chimneys distinguish the house and are echoed throughout the village. It is noted for its surrounding gardens, including an extensive physic garden and two mazes (one open, the other with high hedges), set in an estate village overlooking the  valley of the River Chess. From the village green a private gravel drive leads up to the Manor House. Immediately outside the gates is the parish church of St Michael on the north side of which is the private Bedford Chapel, built by Anne Sapcote, the widow of the 1st Earl, as requested in his will.