La Pannonie Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La Pannonie Castle, view from the southeast

The castle La Pannonie ( French Château de la Pannonie ) is located in the French commune of Couzou northeast of its center in the Lot department ( Occitania region ). The palace in the classicist baroque style is the only aristocratic residence of this architectural style in the entire Quercy .

After the castle was placed under monument protection as a classified Monument historique ( classé ) on July 20, 1992 , the outbuildings and the castle park were also included in the French list of monuments on December 27, 2012 . The complex has belonged to the de Saint-Vincent family, who use it as their residence, for over 130 years. The two current owners opened their home to visitors; initially only on the French Heritage Open Day ( French Journee du Patrimoine ), since 2005 now every day from June to September. The castle can then be visited as part of a guided tour.

history

The Cistercian began after in the Middle Ages had settled in Quercy, with the reclamation of the land, which they called granges built. La Pannonie was first mentioned in writing as such a grangie in 1287. Further mentions followed in 1304 and 1315. At that time, La Pannonie belonged to the Obazine Abbey .

After the Grangie was destroyed in the Hundred Years War , the monastery gave the land to Pierre Lagrange (also written La Grange and sometimes called Carretta), a wealthy Rocamadour merchant, in 1457 . In the 15th century he built a new permanent house in the shape of a U on the site of the old facility or close to it , which was first mentioned in writing in 1535 and was open on the west side. On March 19, 1546, his descendant Michel Lagrange received permission for this building to be fortified with battlements and an artillery tower . Michel's grandson was raised to the nobility by the French king , but his family's wealth gradually declined in the 17th century. Jean Magdelon de Lagrange died in 1655 completely in debt. La Pannonie was confiscated in 1656 and then went to a believer: Pierre Moyen, Seigneur of Ravaignes. He transferred ownership at 21 March 1685 for 30,315  livres , 10  sous and five  denarii to Pierre-Antoine de Vidale Lapize, the king's advice and Zehnteinnehmer for the Diocese of Cahors .

In 1723 Jean Vidal de Lapize rebuilt the complex together with his two brothers Antoine and Pierre. The south wing was completely redesigned and changed into the main wing and equipped with a show facade facing the garden. When Jean was appointed keeper of the seal in the chancellery of the Parlements of Toulouse in 1731, he was raised to the nobility on April 18, 1731. His son Antoine from his marriage to Marie-Antoinette de Puymisson married Anne dʼArnis de Gigouzac. The alliance coat of arms of the two can be found above the entrance in the west wing of the castle, which the couple had built in 1765. The once horseshoe-shaped complex was transformed into a closed four-wing building. The other tracts were refurbished inside during the same period. The north wing was also demolished in the 18th century, possibly because its building fabric was outdated. The exact date of the resignation is unknown. Around 1780, the lord of the castle acquired various paintings from Saint-Sulpice Castle in the canton of Cajarc, around 35 kilometers away, and had them hung in a cabinet of his castle. The collection has been listed as a movable cultural asset since December 21, 2016 .

Site plan of the castle from 1825

During the French Revolution , the then owner of the castle, Antoine Vidal de Lapize, emigrated abroad with his two eldest sons. He never returned to La Pannonie, but died in Mannheim in 1793. The two daughters Antoines, Marie and Marie-Thérèse Vidal de Lapize, and his youngest son stayed in France. While the two women were being taken to prison in Cahors , farmers hid the youngest member of the family to protect them from being attacked by revolutionaries. Since the owner of the castle had emigrated, his property was confiscated. The defense towers were laid down, the wrought-iron balcony grilles dismantled and the lead from the roof removed. After their release from custody, the two daughters of the house had to buy back the family property for 205,015  francs in order to be allowed to live there.

Her youngest brother Marie Louis Charles was the last male member of his family and married Marie Astérie de Sarret in 1865. In 1867, two years after his marriage, he began converting the southern wing of the palace and repairing the roof. He also had the previously existing, symmetrically shaped fruit and vegetable garden south of the plant by a large landscaped landscaped park replaced. As a result, the greenhouse on the south side of the horse stables was repaired. Charles' eldest daughter, Marie-Thérèse, married Baron Félix de Saint-Vincent in 1886 and thus brought the castle to his family. The couple's two granddaughters are the current owners.

description

The lock system consists of a main lock in a horseshoe shape and a Padouan mentioned west upstream Esplanade . On its northern edge stands the church of Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Juliette, built by Jean Magdelon de Lagrange in the 17th century. The south side of the esplanade is lined by the former horse stables and the greenhouse attached to the south.

architecture

Of the main building, which was built in the 15th century by Pierre Lagrange, only one wing remains, which today forms the east wing of the castle and is called the kitchen wing ( French aile des cuisines ). Its age can be seen from the preserved cross-frame windows and their parapets with shooting holes for field snakes .

View of the castle from the southwest; in the foreground the former stables with attached greenhouse, behind it the corps de logis of the main building

The masonry of the three-wing main castle consists of hewn limestone blocks , the mansard roofs are covered with slate shingles. The U-shape of the building is open to the north, the side there is closed with a chest-high wall crowned with vases. However, tear-off edges on the masonry of the east wing show that there used to be another castle wing on the north side. The former location of a no longer existing artillery tower can also be seen. The two-storey south wing forms the corps de logis , which is joined by two side wings at right angles to the east and west. The three wings, together with the north wall, enclose an inner courtyard measuring around 38 × 24 meters; the corners of the building on the courtyard side are rounded. The courtyard can be entered through a portal in the west wing of the complex. The entrance is in a large arched niche and consists of a rectangular, two-winged wooden door, which is flanked by half-columns . The lintel shows the alliance coat of arms Antoine Vidal de Lapizes and his wife Anne dʼArnis de Gigouzac as well as the motto TOUT À DIEU, TOUT À MON ROI ( German  everything for God, everything for my king ).

The 43-meter-long south wing is equipped with a symmetrically designed façade on its south side facing the castle park. It is divided into ten axes by arched windows and doors , the three in the middle lying in a rusticated central risalit with three storeys and a crowning triangular gable . In the past, wrought-iron balcony grilles were installed in front of the doors on the first floor, but they were dismantled during the French Revolution.

inside rooms

Inside the castle there are furnishings from the 15th, 18th and 19th centuries and thus reflect the phases of construction, reconstruction and changes. In the oldest wing of the castle on the east side, the large vaulted kitchen with a monumental chimney from the 15th century is still preserved , despite a radical redesign during the 18th century . In addition, this wing accommodated two serving rooms, a baking house and a curing room on the ground floor . On its upper floor there was a laundry room and a fruit store, among other things. In the west wing there were other utility rooms, such as a wash house, a wood store and a carriage house .

The Corps de Logis stands on a basement with a 3.4 meter high barrel vault . On the ground floor there are several rooms with an attached cabinet and dressing room as well as the representative rooms with a large salon and dining room. On the other hand, the private living rooms are on the upper floor. With the exception of the central salon on the ground floor, whose design dates back to the Second Empire , almost all rooms are decorated in the Rococo style. Many of them have rich, colorfully painted stucco decorations in the form of plant motifs, trophies and medallions, as well as fireplaces made of pink marble from Saint-Céré . The alliance coat of arms of the Vidal de Lapize and Sarret de Fabrègues families can be found in the stucco decoration of the walls and ceiling in the large salon. The floors of the main building can be reached via large stairs in the corners of the castle wing. One of the stairs dates from the 17th century, while the other staircase was added in the 18th century. The walls of her stairwell are painted to imitate marble.

In a cabinet on the ground floor of the castle hang eleven paintings that originally came from the now-gone castle Saint-Sulpice. They were acquired by Antoine Vidal de Lapize around 1780 and hung in this room, which at the time belonged to the landlady's apartment . The paintings on wood and canvas date from the first half of the 17th century and show landscapes as well as some architecture. The small room with the painting collection is also called Saint-Sulpice-Salon ( French salon de Saint-Sulpice ) according to the origin of the works of art . In addition to the paintings, there are other protected cultural assets in the castle, including some sculptures and furniture that once belonged to Marshal Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult .

Castle Park

Landscaped garden

In the second half of the 19th century, the landscaped garden south of the castle, surrounded by a dry stone wall, replaced a smaller French garden with a square floor plan, which was divided into four symmetrical parterres by two straight, intersecting paths . Today's palace garden has three large water basins, of which only two are still filled. The tree population includes old oaks , linden trees and chestnuts as well as plane trees , sycamore maples , cedars , pines and ash trees . There are also some exotic plants in the park, including persimmon , sumac and sour cherry .

There is an old greenhouse on the northern edge of the castle park. Its walls are made of glass while its roof is covered with slate.

literature

  • Jean Calmon: La Pannonie et ses seigneurs. In: Bulletin de la Société des études du Lot. Vol. 78; No. X, 1957, ISSN  0755-2483 , pp. 153-167 ( digitized version ).
  • Catherine Didon: Châteaux, manoirs et logis. Le Lot. Éditions Patrimoines & Médias, Chauray 1996, ISBN 2-910137-18-X , pp. 158–159.
  • Paul Roudié: Couzou. Château de La Pannonie. In: Jacques Gardelles (ed.): Le Guide des châteaux de France. Lot . Hermé, Paris 1986, ISBN 2-86665-031-X , p. 41.
  • Valérie Rousset: Le château de la Pannonie et lʼéglise Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Juliette (Couzou). November 2004 ( PDF ; 857 kB).

Web links

Commons : La Pannonie Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e History of the complex on the castle website , accessed on October 19, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b Entry of the castle in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  3. ↑ a b c Entry of the castle in the monument database of the Occitania region , accessed on October 19, 2018.
  4. ^ A b Valérie Rousset: Le château de la Pannonie et lʼéglise Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Juliette (Couzou). 2004, p. 2.
  5. ^ Jean Calmon: La Pannonie et ses seigneurs. 1957, p. 157.
  6. ↑ a b Jean Calmon: La Pannonie et ses seigneurs. 1957, p. 160.
  7. ^ A b c Catherine Didon: Châteaux, manoirs et logis. Le Lot. 1996, p. 158.
  8. ^ Valérie Rousset: Le château de la Pannonie et lʼéglise Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Juliette (Couzou). 2004, p. 1.
  9. ^ Jean Calmon: La Pannonie et ses seigneurs. 1957, p. 161.
  10. ↑ a b c d Entry of the castle park in the monument database of the Occitania region , accessed on October 22, 2018.
  11. ↑ a b c Paul Roudié: Couzou. Château de La Pannonie. 1986, p. 41.
  12. ^ Entries of the paintings in the base Palissy
  13. ^ Jean Calmon: La Pannonie et ses seigneurs. 1957, p. 164.
  14. ↑ a b Catherine Didon: Châteaux, manoirs et logis. Le Lot. 1996, p. 159.
  15. ^ Jean Calmon: La Pannonie et ses seigneurs. 1957, p. 165.
  16. ↑ Information according to the cadastral map available online at geoportail.gouv.fr
  17. ^ A b Valérie Rousset: Le château de la Pannonie et lʼéglise Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Juliette (Couzou). 2004, p. 3.
  18. ^ Valérie Rousset: Le château de la Pannonie et lʼéglise Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Juliette (Couzou). 2004, p. 4.

Coordinates: 44 ° 46 ′ 38.6 "  N , 1 ° 39 ′ 17.5"  E