Chilleurs-aux-Bois is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.

Nearby Chamerolles Castle ( French Château de Chamerolles ) is a Renaissance castle in the village of Chilleurs-aux-Bois in the department of Loiret , Center-Val de Loire .

The castle was built in the 16th century by Lancelot I of Lac on the foundations of a medieval castle as one of the first Renaissance castles in France. It is an attractive chateau set in a large park with a lake and a Renaissance garden. A visit to the chateau includes a visit to its interesting exhibition of perfume. The chateau is located in the village of Chilleurs-aux-Bois to the north of Orleans.

It was Lancelot du Lac I who had the Chateau de Chamerolles built on the site of an ancient fortress whose square plan including towers and a moat survives today.

A visit to the chateau explores the main rooms on three floors. On the ground floor are various furnished rooms including a Charles X dining room, a yellow 13th century drawing room, a red 16th century drawing room and a green 16th century drawing room.

The first and second floors are devoted to the world of perfume with exhibits reflecting perfume and its production from the 16th to the 19th century. The second floor showcases an attractive collection of perfume bottles.

Every year in October a couple of days are devoted to collections of perfume bottles and many collectioners come to show their collections. There is also an opportunity to swap or buy perfume bottles.

Outside after crossing a stone bridge over the moat you enter the charming Renaissance gardens. Designed as a series of square parterres within a large parterre each section has a different pattern of plantings.

One section is given over to a vegetable patch laid out in symetrical beds and another includes lawns and seating but most have patterns of low hedges of box or lavender, columnar trees and patterned beds filled with plants and flowers.

A long rose arch along the edge of the Renaissance garden adds a delicious scent and an abundance of flowers. There is also a lake in the chateau grounds.

When the department acquired the chateau in 1987 nothing existed of the former gardens except the moat. However the gardens have been created and designed with the aim of recreating an authentic Renaissance style garden and using plants available in those times. They used a plan dating back to the 18th century.

A large hall dating from the 12th century and originally from Bellegarde has been dismantled and reassembled in the gardens of the Château de Chamerolles. The hall is considered to have some of the most remarkable carpentry in the area and has a lovely lake-side setting. The hall is used for exhibitions and private events.

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