Commarin Castle

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Logis of the Commarin Castle, view from the northeast

The Commarin Castle ( French Château de Commarin ) is a French moated castle in the classicist Baroque style . It is located in the heart of Burgundy in the village of Commarin , Département Côte-d'Or , about four kilometers north of Châteauneuf-en-Auxois .

The roots of the current complex can be found in a permanent house from the 12th century that came from the Lords of Commarin to the Courtiamble family. Despite its 900-year history, the property was never sold, but always inherited within the family. Since this often happened through heirlooms, Commarin is associated with the names of some of the most powerful Burgundian noble houses at the time. It is currently owned by the 26th generation of the family.

Fortified at the beginning of the 15th century , the castle got its current appearance through new buildings and modernizations in the 17th and 18th centuries, because, unlike many other French castle buildings, Commarin survived both the French Revolution and both world wars completely unscathed.

The complex has been privately owned by the de Vogüé family since 1829 , but can be visited daily for a fee from Easter to All Saints' Day. The castle park has also been open to visitors since 2003. The building and park have been classified as Monument historique since September 21, 1949 .

history

Beginnings

Commarin Castle may go back to a Roman villa rustica , but Commarin was not mentioned in a document as a permanent house from the 12th century until 1214, when Aubert the Commarin was named as the first owner known by name. In 1346, Pierre de Commarin , who had remained without a male heir, transferred the fortified house to his nephew Jean de Courtiamble , also written Courte Jambe , which means "short leg" or "short leg" in German. Jean's son Jacques was chamberlain to the Burgundian Duke Philippe le Hardi . He expanded the fortified property into a castle at the beginning of the 15th century . This was surrounded by a double moat and a square ring wall, the corners of which were marked by massive round towers . To the northeast was an almost trapezoidal outer bailey, which was separated from the main building by a moat . The moats, the castle chapel and two massive round towers are still witnesses of this former system . The castle also had kitchen gardens, ornamental gardens and fish ponds. Jacques gave the Seigneurie Commarin and the castle as a dowry to his eldest daughter Agnès when she married Jean de Dinteville , Lord of Chenet , in the mid-15th century . Through their son Claude, the property came to Jacques de Dinteville in 1477 . He was adviser to King Louis XI. and confidante of his successor Franz I , whom he received as a guest in Commarin in 1521. His heir, Bénigne, brought the property to this family through her marriage to Girard (also Gérard) de Vienne, vicomte de Beaune , in 1500 . Both Girard and his father-in-law Jacques had fundamental changes made to the buildings in order to adapt them to the high demands on living comfort. Girard's son Françoise married the granddaughter Agnès Sorels , Gilette de Luxembourg , in 1532 and had their son Antoine with her, who in May 1588 was given by the French King Henry III in thanks for his services . was raised to the rank of count .

Conversion and extension to the castle

The coats of arms of Charles I. de Viennes and his wife on the south wing identify the couple as their builders.

In the first quarter of the 17th century, Charles I. de Vienne had fundamental renovation and expansion work carried out on the complex. The southeast wing of the main building ( Logis ) was completely rebuilt and the chapel was integrated into it. In order to have a better view of the forecourt, Charles I had the north-eastern curtain wall of the main castle laid down and the castle transformed into today's three-wing complex in the shape of a horseshoe. He also replaced the north-eastern defensive wall of the outer bailey with a low wall with aedicule attachments . From 1622 to 1623, a new elongated horse stable was built on the southeast side of the Vorburginsel. The building replaced an old Jeu-de-Paume building in the same place. Other new buildings under Charles I were two high pavilion towers at the northeast and southeast corner of the forecourt and an elaborately designed portal .

In 1699 or 1701 the western corner tower of the palace complex collapsed, after which Charles II. De Vienne began extensive new buildings on April 26, 1702, which lasted until 1713. The lord of the castle did not have the collapsed tower rebuilt, but he had a new south-west and a new north-west wing built. The Dijon architect Philippe Pâris provided the designs for the new buildings . Charles widow Anne de Chastellux completed the redesign of the complex by filling in the moat that separated the logis from the forecourt in 1717 and connecting the stables to the south-east wing of the logis by building a pavilion. Anne was able to move into the apartments in the pavilion in 1723. Charles and Anne's only child, the daughter Marie-Judith, had become Marquise of Antigny through her marriage to Joseph-François Damas in 1725 . Through her daughter Alexandrine, she was the grandmother of the famous statesman Talleyrand . Marie-Judith had numerous modernizations and repairs carried out on the castle. Both the current farm buildings from 1751 were built at their behest and the horse stable was completely renovated in the 1740s after it collapsed in 1744. In addition, a large part of the interior furnishings still preserved today goes back to the marquise.

Since the revolution

After the palace complex remarkably survived the French Revolution unscathed, it was passed on to Marie-Judith's grandson, Duke Charles de Damas , in 1811 . He was confidant of the later King Charles X , who gave him one of François Gérard gave painted monumental portrait of himself, which today in the Great Hall French Grand salle of the castle can be seen. Charles' daughter Adélaide Louise Zéphirine married Count Charles de Vogüé in 1802 , and their son of the same name inherited the castle when his grandfather died in 1829.

During the 19th century, the out of fashion French palace gardens under Charles de Vogüé (1808–1874) and his wife Elisabeth de Beranger were replaced by an English landscape garden . Added to this were the widening of the moat, the laying down of the curtain wall and changes inside the building. In the course of the restoration of the palace chapel between 1851 and 1854, it received its current paneling from the 14th century. It comes from the chapel of Châteauneuf-en-Auxois , which was also owned by the family. Between 1850 and 1860 the interior was redesigned according to plans by the Parisian architect Pierre-Charles Dusillon . He also provided the drafts for a new design of the horse stable.

Occupied by German troops during the Second World War , but without being damaged as a result, the castle has been open to visitors since 1973. Since 1980 the owners have had the system restored and repaired in stages. In addition to being used as a museum, the castle now serves as an event location, as both the outdoor area and the stables can be rented for festivities and receptions.

description

The lock system of Commarin consists of a main building, including atrial, standing on a surrounded by moats Schlossinsel, and about one hectare large Vorburgareal on which are located the former farm buildings. The entrance to the castle is marked by a wrought-iron gate, to which a two-kilometer-long avenue leads from the northeast.

building

South view of the Logis ; right in the picture: the Tour d'horloge and the horse stables

The floor plan of today's building ensemble on the castle island is still largely determined by the conception of the medieval predecessor complex . The three-winged logis, open to the northeast, made of plastered quarry stone masonry with facades in the classicist Baroque style, has two massive two-storey round towers with slate-covered conical roofs at the outward corners of the side wings . In this way, the wings of the building frame a courtyard of honor . The southern tower is called the Tour d'horloge and is crowned by a lantern . Both towers have a single large room in the basement and a mezzanine floor above . Its windows - like those on the first floor - have sculptural decorations in the shape of a keel arch .

Both the middle wing on the southwest side and the northwest wing , called the wing of Louis XIV (French: aile Louis XIV ), have two storeys, while the south-east wing of the same height, with the wing of Louis XIII. (French: aile Louis XIII ), has three storeys. They are creatively separated from one another by means of surrounding cornices at the level of the window sills . The façade of the central building facing the courtyard is divided into seven axes by windows, of which the three central axes are located in a protruding central projection, which has a small balcony with a wrought iron grille on the first floor . At the level of the attic, the risalit is crowned by a round-arched gable field with reliefs of coats of arms . The alliance coat of arms above the entrance to the south-east wing reminds of its builder Charles I. de Vienne and his wife Marguerite Fauche de Domprel. The second, courtyard-side entrance of this building wing leads to the castle chapel.

The central projection of the south-west wing is repeated on its garden facade, but the gable there does not show any coats of arms, but rather an ox-eye . From the ground-level exit in the central axis of the risalit, a six-arched bridge leads over the moat into the five- hectare palace park. The two flat corner projections of the garden facade have corner masonry in a rustic look .

In the northeast, the castle island can be entered via a brick, single-arched bridge. The location of the former portal is now marked by two lion sculptures.

Northwest view of the Marstall

The noisy round tower is connected to the single-storey stables via a two-storey pavilion. A horse relief above the entrance testifies to its former function. At the north end of the building is a square tower that marks the eastern corner of the castle island. Its three floors are closed off by a tiled pyramid roof. A very similar tower stands on the northern corner of the island. This still has a small extension, which is the only remnant of the former outer bailey wing located there. Opposite the stables, there is a paved ramp that leads down to the northern part of the moat and shows that it was used to drink horses in the past.

The outer bow area is not only the location of several farm buildings that were built in the middle of the 18th century, but there is also an elaborately designed portal on the north side from the first half of the 17th century, which was replaced by the The northeast side of the castle island was moved to its current location. The building, made of hewn stone, has a round arched gate passage which is crowned by an aedicule and flanked by Tuscan columns . Above this are two stone tablets with the de Vienne family's motto: "TOUT BIEN A VIENNE" .

Portal on the north side of the outer bailey

All in all, at first glance, the complex makes a very regular and symmetrical impression and appears to be completely in line with the architecture of the classicist Baroque. On closer inspection, however, the viewer discovers numerous irregularities that destroy the typical symmetry. This includes, for example, the fact that the long, straight access road does not meet the central axis of the facility and the elongated water basins to the west of the lodge are neither in one axis with the castle nor the access avenue. In addition, the two side wings of the main house have different numbers of floors and therefore do not create perfect symmetry. The same applies to the two round towers at their ends: They are neither the same height nor do they have the same circumference.

inside rooms

Much of today's interior is heavily influenced by the renovations under Marie-Judith de Vienne . During a guided tour of the castle, the Marquise's apartment, which is still almost authentically preserved, can be viewed in one of the two round towers with 18th century furnishings. In one of the antichambres , on the other hand, four valuable tapestries from the 16th century are on display. They were made on the occasion of the marriages of Jacques de Dinteville with Alix de Pontailler and Bénigne de Dinteville with Girard de Vienne and date from 1516 to 1522.

The Gothic chapel with its two- bay cross vault is located on the ground floor of the south wing . It still comes from the medieval predecessor of the castle. It contains a triptych from 1526 with portraits of Girard de Viennes and his wife. Girard originally had it made for the Sainte-Chapelle de Dijon .

The barrel-vaulted staircase with its monumental, two-flight staircase that leads from the ground floor of the southeast wing to the floor above is also very valuable in terms of art history. Their lavish, three- dimensional stucco decoration is particularly striking . The approximately 200 m² large hall on the first floor of this castle wing, known as the grand salle , has a 5.5 meter high ceiling and valuable floor tiles with leaf motifs as special features. In addition to a large portrait of the French King Charles X, an extensive collection of portraits with portraits of the castle owners and their families can be seen in the room. Also worth seeing is the large palace library, in which a complete edition of the Encyclopédie edited by Diderot and d'Alembert is kept.

literature

  • Jean de Foville, Auguste Le Sourd: Les châteaux de France. Hachette & Cie., Paris [1913] p. 96.
  • Claude Frégnac: Merveilles des châteaux de Bourgogne et de Franche-Comté. Hachette, Paris 1969, pp. 14-19.
  • Henriette de Ganay: Château de Commarin. Nouvelles Éditions latines, Paris [1975].
  • Bernhard and Ulrike Laule, Heinfried Wischermann: Art monuments in Burgundy. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1991, p. 386.
  • Bernard de Montgolfier: Dictionnaire des châteaux de France. Larousse, Paris 1969, p. 101.
  • Robert Speaight, Francis Pagan: The companion guide to Burgundy. 3. Edition. Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge 1996, ISBN 1-900639-17-3 , pp. 167-172 ( digitized ).
  • Rolf Toman (ed.). Burgundy. Art - landscape - architecture. Tandem, Potsdam 2009, ISBN 978-3-8331-4436-3 , p. 172.
  • Françoise Vignier: Aimer les châteaux de Bourgogne. Ouest France, Rennes 1986, ISBN 2-85882-949-7 , p. 23.
  • Françoise Vignier: Commarin. In: Françoise Vignier (ed.): Le Guide des châteaux de France. Cote d'Or. Hermé, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-86665-015-8 , pp. 59-63.

Web links

Commons : Schloss Commarin  - collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b c d e Castle Commarin in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French), accessed January 12, 2020.
  2. ↑ Castle history on commarin.com , accessed on January 12, 2020.
  3. ^ A b Claude Frégnac: Merveilles des châteaux de Bourgogne et de Franche-Comté. 1969, p. 15.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Françoise Vignier: Commarin. 1985, p. 61.
  5. ^ A b Jean de Foville, Auguste Le Sourd: Les châteaux de France. [1913], p. 96.
  6. ^ A b Robert Speaight, Francis Pagan: The companion guide to Burgundy. 1996, p. 168.
  7. ↑ Anselme de Sainte-Marie: Histoire de la Maison Royale de France, et des grands officiers de la Couronne. Volume 8, 3rd edition. Compagnie des Libraires Associez, Paris 1733, p. 803 ( digitized version ).
  8. ↑ Detailed owner history and description of the castle , accessed on January 12, 2020.
  9. ^ Robert Speaight, Francis Pagan: The Companion Guide to Burgundy. 1996, p. 169.
  10. ↑ Castle description on casteland.com , accessed January 12, 2020.
  11. ↑ Visitor information on the castle website , accessed January 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Françoise Vignier: Commarin. 1985, p. 62.
  13. ↑ Location: 47 ° 15 ′ 23.2 ″  N , 4 ° 38 ′ 55.3 ″  E
  14. ↑ Geneviève Souchal (ed.): Masterpieces of Tapestry. From the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century. An exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1973, ISBN 0-87099-086-1 , p. 132 ( digitized version ).
  15. ^ Françoise Vignier: Commarin. 1985, p. 63.
  16. ↑ a b Castle history (Grand Siècle) on casteland.com , accessed on January 12, 2020.

Coordinates: 47 ° 15 '19.6 "  N , 4 ° 38' 55.4"  E