The château is two buildings in one: the medieval Petit Château (the Capitainerie), which dates from the 1560s and has barely changed since, and the Grand Château, which was demolished during the Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s in Renaissance style by the architect Honoré Daumet on the original foundations. The result is surprisingly coherent.
Inside is the Musée Condé, assembled by Henri d'Orléans, the Duke of Aumale, in the 19th century. It holds around 800 paintings, including works by Raphael, Fouquet, Poussin, Delacroix, and Ingres, as well as illuminated manuscripts — the collection's crown jewel is the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, one of the finest medieval Books of Hours in existence, though only a facsimile is on display; the original is too fragile to exhibit.
The Duke left the entire domain to the Institut de France in 1884 on the condition that it be kept exactly as he arranged it, with nothing lent or moved. This eccentric stipulation means you see the collection as a 19th-century collector presented it, not as a modern curator would arrange it — which is either charming or frustrating depending on your temperament.