Richelieu rewards slow exploration. The main draw is the planned town itself — walking the grid of uniform 17th-century façades, passing through the surviving gateways, and standing in the central square where two original market halls still face each other. The architecture is unusual in France: nowhere else was an entire classical town built at once to a single plan, and the unity of it is striking.
Beyond the town, the vast park that once surrounded Cardinal Richelieu's château is now a public garden — one of the most undervisited green spaces in the Loire Valley. Tree-lined allées, sections of the moat canal, and rose gardens spread across nearly 400 hectares.
The town is also an interesting historical curiosity: it was built by one of the most powerful men in French history at the height of his power, as a statement of order and authority. The fact that his château was demolished while his town survives feels like a fitting commentary on what endures.