Chabans Castle
The Chabans Castle is a castle near Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère in the "black" Périgord ( southwest France ).
It is located at the highest point of the Côte de Jor and overlooks the Vézère valley . Such historically significant places as the Lascaux cave and the town of Sarlat-la-Canéda can be found in the vicinity .
description
building
The buildings of the palace complex are grouped on a rectangular floor plan around an inner courtyard , at the western corner of which the two-winged main house is located. Its three-story north-west wing from the 17th century in the Baroque style has a polygonal stair tower on the courtyard side and is closed on the third floor by a hipped roof. Connected by a four-story pavilion tower, the older, also three- story Renaissance wing from the 16th century adjoins it at right angles . A short, single-storey connecting wing connects it to a massive, medieval round tower from the 15th century, which has the oldest structure in the entire complex. Crowned with a buckled helmet , it is connected to the former farm building in the southeast of the area by a wall.
The castle is surrounded by a park , which is connected to the castle's own lands and truffle forests.
inside rooms
The castle rooms are furnished with furniture from the 15th to 17th centuries and display a collection of tapestries and embroidery . In addition, a collection of stained glass windows can be seen in some rooms , the oldest pieces of which date from the 15th century. It is considered to be one of the most important private collections of its kind in France.
In one of the rooms, the importance of the castle in the context of the Resistance and Jacques Chaban-Delmas is discussed. With reference to the castle, he changed his code name from “Lakanal” to “Chaban” in 1943. On August 12, 1944, the resistance fighters founded the General Staff of the Resistance against the German occupation in the Dordogne at Chabans Castle .
history
In the 15th century, the builder of Chabans Castle was Jean I. de Calvimont. The complex remained the property of this old French aristocratic family for almost 300 years before it came to François, Vicomte de Losse after the death of Gaspard de Calvimont in 1660, followed by numerous changes of ownership into the 20th century.
The current owner is Marie-Joëlle Crichton-Watt, who bought it together with her husband David in 1987. For 16 years was the new chatelaine then in February 1972, listed building standing, rundown facility restore and rebuild. So received z. B. the round tower a new helmet, whose roof structure was reconstructed from 17 tons of oak and chestnut wood. The baroque gardens , which had completely disappeared, were also started to emerge again.
An exhibition in the castle rooms documents the individual phases of the multi-year reconstruction.
The owners of Chabans Castle were in particular:
- Jean I. de Calvimont (15th century)
- Jean II. De Calvimont, Lord of Chabans and Labenche (15th - early 16th century)
- Jean III de Calvimont, Lord of Chabans and Cros (died 1562)
- Jean IV. De Calvimont, Lord of Chabans and Chalard (16th century)
- Gaspard de Calvimont, Lord of Chabans and Chalard (died 1660)
- Francois, Viscount of Losse, Lord of Chabans (17th century)
- Jean de la Brousse, Lord de Saint-Front (17th century)
- Jean, Viscount of Losse, Lord of Chabans and Moustier (18th century)
- Aubert Jean Francois Géry d'Abzac (died 1828)
- Abzac-Lafaye (as a tenant) (1817–1832)
- Jean Baptiste Dubois, head of the Périgueux post office (1832–1843)
- Clément Dulac, friend of Victor Hugos (1843–1876)
- M. Perdounet (1876-1886)
- Antoine Levebvre (1886-1903)
- Jean Auguste Dalbavie (1903-1912)
- Georges Joseph Vignéras (1912–1920)
- Pierre Léon Gaillard (1920–1928)
- Henri Cazelles (1928-1958)
- Étienne Puyalto (1958–1961)
- SARL Salmon (1961–1964)
- SCEA du domaine de Chabans (1964–1987)
- David and Marie-Joëlle Crichton-Watt (from 1987)
- Marie-Joëlle Crichton-Watt (2000-2006)
Todays use
After several years of restoration, the castle and its park are open to the public. The gardens are freely accessible, while the interiors can be visited for a fee as part of a guided tour and can also be used for changing exhibitions.
There is also the option of renting the outdoor facilities for social events.
literature
- Le château de Chabans . In: Le Festin. 40 /? / 2002, Association Le Festin, ISBN 2-909423-91-3 .
- Guy Penaud: Château de Chabans. La Lauze, Périgueux 2001.
- Guy Penaud: Visiter le château de Chabans et ses jardins. Sud-Ouest, Bordeaux 2004, ISBN 2-87901-583-9 .
Web links
- Castle website (French)
Coordinates: 45 ° 0 ′ 49 ″ N , 1 ° 3 ′ 37 ″ E