Château d ' Angers The Château d ' Angers is a castle in the city of Angers in the Loire Valley , in the " département " of Maine - et - Loire , in France . Founded in the 9th century by the Counts of Anjou , was expanded to its current size in the 13th century . It is located on a rocky ridge overhanging the river Maine . Now open to the public , the Château d ' Angers is home of the Apocalypse Tapestry . History . Originally , this castle was built as a fortress at one of the sites inhabited by the Romans because of its strategic defensive location . In the 9th century , the Bishop of Angers gave the Counts of Anjou permission to build a castle in Angers . It became part of the Angevin empire of the Plantagenet Kings of England during the 12th century . In 1204 , the region was conquered by Philip II and an enormous castle was built during the minority of his grandson , Louis IX ( " Saint Louis " ) in the early part of the 13th century . The construction undertaken in 1234 cost 4 , 422 livres , roughly one per cent of the estimated royal revenue at the time . Louis gave the castle to his brother , Charles in 1246 . In 1352 , King John II " le Bon " , gave the castle to his second son , Louis who later became count of Anjou . Married to the daughter of the wealthy Duke of Brittany , Louis had the castle modified , and in 1373 commissioned the famous " Apocalypse Tapestry " from the painter Hennequin de Bruges and the Parisian tapestry - weaver Nicolas Bataille . Louis II ( Louis I ' s son ) and Yolande d ' Aragon added a chapel ( 1405 – 12 ) and royal apartments to the complex . The chapel is a " sainte chapelle " , the name given to churches which enshrined a relic of the Passion . The relic at Angers was a splinter of the fragment of the True Cross which had been acquired by Louis IX . In the early 15th century , the hapless dauphin who , with the assistance of Joan of Arc would become King Charles VII , had to flee Paris and was given sanctuary at the Château d ' Angers . In 1562 , Catherine de ' Medici had the castle restored as a powerful fortress , but , her son , Henry III , reduced the height of the towers and had the towers and walls stripped of their embattlements ; Henry III used the castle stones to build streets and develop the village of Angers . Nonetheless , under threat of attacks from the Huguenots , the king maintained the castle ' s defensive capabilities by making it a military outpost and by installing artillery on the château ' s upper terraces . At the end of the 18th century , as a military garrison , it showed its worth when its thick walls withstood a massive bombardment by cannons from the Vendean army . Unable to do anything else , the invaders simply gave up . A military academy was established in the castle to train young officers in the strategies of war . In a twist of fate , Arthur Wellesley , 1st Duke of Wellington , best known for taking part in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo , was trained at the Military Academy of Angers . Modern . Still a part of the French military , the chateau was severely damaged during World War II by the Nazis when an ammunition storage dump inside the castle exploded . On 10 January 2009 , the castle suffered severe damage from an accidental fire due to short - circuiting . The Royal Logis , which contains old tomes and administrative offices , was the most heavily damaged part of the chateau , resulting in of the roof being completely burnt . The Tapestries of the Apocalypse were not damaged . Total damages have been estimated at 2 million Euros . According to Christine Albanel , the Minister of Culture , the expected date of completion for the restoration is the second trimester of 2009 . Today , owned by the City of Angers , the massive , austere castle has been converted to a museum housing the oldest and largest collection of medieval tapestries in the world , with the 14th century " Apocalypse Tapestry " as one of its priceless treasures . As a tribute to its fortitude , the castle has never been taken by any invading force in history . Layout . The outer wall is thick , extends for about and is protected by seventeen massive towers . Each of the perimeter towers measures in diameter . The château covers an area of . Two pairs of towers form the city and landward entrances of the château . Each of the towers was once in height , but they were later cut down for the use of artillery pieces . The Tour du Moulin is the only tower which conserves the original elevation .