Amboise
[key], town, Indre-et-Loire dept., N central France, in Touraine, on the Loire. It is a wine
and wool market, and its manufactures include sporting goods, pharmaceuticals, and film and
radio equipment. The town is chiefly famous, however, for its Gothic château, a royal
residence from the reign of Charles VIII (who was born and died there) to that of Francis II.
Leonardo da Vinci, who probably worked on it, is said to be buried in its chapel. Amboise was
the scene (1560) of a Huguenot plot against the Guise family. Other old structures in the town include St. Denis Church (12th,
15th, 16th, and 17th cent.), St. Florentine Church (15th cent.), the town hall (16th cent.;
restored), and the Clos-Lucé (15th cent.), where Francis I spent part of his youth and
where da Vinci died.
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