Maintenon is known for its picturesque Château de Maintenon, first home to the family d'Angennes, Marquis de Maintenon, later home of Madame de Maintenon, morganatic second wife of King Louis XIV.

The construction of the castle began in the 13th and ended in roughly the 18th century. In the early 16th century, it was purchased by Louis XII's treasurer Jean Cottereau, who transformed the castle into a country house. In the 17th century, it was rebuilt for Madame de Maintenon, who purchased the estate in 1674.

The château's main features are the keep, constructed in the 13th century, and the principal corps de logis, flanked by three round towers, one at the avant-cour and the others at the bridge across the moat. The east and west wings frame a cour d'honneur, beyond which is the moat filled by the waters of the Eure, and, beyond, the parterre and park. The picturesque massing of the varied towers and roofs pleased François-René de Chateaubriand who found its special character was like that of an abbey or an old town, "with its spires and steeples, grouped at haphazard".

At the far end of the gardens is the aqueduct, crossing the Canal de l'Eure, also known as the canal de Louis XIV, ordered by Louis XIV. Its colossal scale impressed Chateaubriand, who said that it was "a work worthy of the Caesars". In the 17th century, there was an orangery constructed as well as stables.

Another tourist attraction are the ruins of the aqueduct of Maintenon, built by Louis XIV to carry water from the Eure to the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. The aqueduct had to have 47 arcades to the first row, 195 arcades to the second and 390 to the third one. The wars of Louis XIV prevented the work's completion.

It has also been classified as a Monument historique since 1875 by the French Ministry of Culture.

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