Castle O

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Castle O from the southeast

The castle O ( French Château d'O ) is a moated castle in Mortrée , north of Alençon in the Orne department , Normandy region .

The complex goes back to a medieval fortification from the 11th century. It received its external shape mainly at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century. The castle is privately owned and can be visited. Since September 1964 it has been under monument protection as Monument historique . In May 2002, the spacious castle park , which is owned by the municipality, was added to the list of monuments .

description

architecture

West view of the castle
Trompe l'oeil painting in the Muses' salon

The three-wing castle with a high hipped roof stands on stilts on a small rectangular island in the middle of a pond fed by the Thouanne . On the northwest side is the Corps de Logis , which was built in the 17th century. It is flanked at two corners by round towers from the 15th century. On the other side of the castle island is the gate building ( French Châtelet ) from the last quarter of the 15th century. The two buildings are connected by a narrow south wing from the beginning of the 16th century and thus enclose a courtyard, formerly probably in the north by a curtain wall was completed, but today on this side of a low balustrade is limited.

The ground floor of the south wing consists of a courtyard-side gallery with flat arches supported by sculpted columns of Ionic order . In the attic there are two dormer windows with gables in the style of the flamboyant , with portrait medallions . The outer facade of the south wing, on the other hand, is in the classicist Baroque style and is structured vertically by pilasters .

The gate construction is the oldest part of the castle. It consists of a three-storey pavilion with a high slate mansard roof and a polygonal tower with a polygonal helmet , which are connected to one another by a covered gate passage. The beam recordings of the former drawbridge are still clearly visible. The outer facade of the Châtelet shows the characteristics of the flamboyant, which is particularly emphasized by the lavishly designed hatchings with their pinnacles . The décor of the building made of light natural stone and red bricks shows a checkerboard pattern and is one of the most elaborate works of this kind in Normandy . In contrast, the sculptural jewelry of the Corps de Logis already shows the influence of the Italian Renaissance . The three floors of this residential building are accessed via a stair tower on the courtyard side.

In addition to the main castle, the complex includes a chapel from the 14th century, a pigeon tower from the Renaissance period and various utility buildings, including several barns, an orangery from the 18th century and a commanderie , which is now used as a restaurant. Also belonging to the palace are three gardens - a lawn ground floor , an orchard and a vegetable garden  - as well as a spacious palace park .

A wrought iron gate on the east side of the complex provides access to the palace area. It is flanked by two brick pillars , each crowned by a vase.

Interior

Most of the interior of the castle dates from the 17th and 18th centuries and thus has different styles. The so-called Salon of the Muses ( Salon des muses ) with furniture in the strict Louis-Seize style is particularly valuable in terms of art history . He owns neoclassical trompe-l'oeil paintings in pastel tones that simulate nine niches with ancient statues of gods.

history

The roots of the castle lie in a fortified complex of the 11th century, which was built by a family who named themselves after their property. The first officially named scion was Robert d'O, who accompanied Robert I , Duke of Normandy, on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land . This family seat was destroyed by English troops during the Hundred Years War . From 1484, Jean I. d'O , chamberlain to the French King Charles VIII , started the construction of today's castle. Under his aegis, today's gate was built on the foundations of the old castle from 1484. The adjoining, southern gallery wing was built by Jean's son Charles d'O. He was followed as castle owner and Seigneur von O by his son Jean II, who, under Francis I, became captain of the Scottish Guard and Seneschals of Normandy. Jean II was inherited by his son François . This was surintendant des Finances and Mignon Heinrich III. and was more interested in his possessions in what was then Fresne (now Ecquevilly ). He died in 1594 completely in debt, so Schloss O was sold to pay off his immense debts.

The buyer was Jacques de La Guesle, member of the Paris Parliament , who bequeathed it to his brother Alexandre. For this, the castle and the associated possessions were raised to a marquisate in 1616 . After Alexandre's childless death, his niece sold the property to the Duke of Luynes, who in 1647 sold it to the Montaigu family (also spelled Montagu ). This had changes made mainly inside and the outer facade of the south wing was comprehensively changed around 1770 according to the taste of the time.

Stair tower in the inner courtyard, photo from 1910 at the latest

In 1795 Charles Valentin Roques acquired the facility. His family also had changes made to the castle. For example, she designed the orangery in the palace gardens. Via the d'Albon family, who owned Castle O from 1841, the property came to a real estate speculator in 1878, who had the land belonging to the castle parceled out and sold piece by piece. The castle archive was burned and the furniture and the castle library were sold. Then the palace complex came into the possession of General Edouard Arsène Henry, marquis d'Aubigny (1832–1912).

Later the castle came into state ownership and was used as a vacation home for children of naval members. In addition, the main palace underwent radical changes inside, which destroyed much of the historical building fabric. The building underwent the last structural changes in 1973, when Jacques de Lacretelle and his wife Yolande began its restoration . The couple acquired the run-down property in the early 1970s. The restoration work included, among other things, the repair of the curtain wall , the eight-month restoration of the trompe l'œil paintings inside and the re-watering of the ditches that had fallen dry . The new castle owners also had the castle rooms furnished again and opened the property to the public.

literature

  • Jean-Pierre Babelon: Châteaux de France au siècle de la Renaissance . Flammarion, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-08-012062-X , pp. 76-78 .
  • Josyane and Alain Cassaigne: 365 Châteaux de France . Aubanel, Geneva 2007, ISBN 978-2-7006-0517-4 , pp. 578-579.
  • Max-Pol Fouchet: O . In: The most beautiful castles and palaces in France . Zurich / Stuttgart / Vienna, Das Beste 1979, ISBN 3-7166-0020-2 , pp. 210–213.
  • Claude Frégnac (Ed.): Merveilles des châteaux de Normandie . Aris, Hachette 1966, pp. 106-109.
  • Roxane Legay de Leyde: Ô. Un château miroir . In: Patrimoine Normand . Vol. 3, No. 14, April / May 1997, ISSN  1271-6006 ( online ).
  • Robert Schezen, Laure Murat: Castles and country manors in France . Heyne, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-453-05185-8 , pp. 62-67.
  • Henry de Ségogne: Le château d'O . In: Congrès Français d'Archéologie . No. 111, Société Française d'Archéologie, Paris 1953, pp. 277-286.

Web links

Commons : Schloss O  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Castle O in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French), accessed on January 8, 2014.
  2. ↑ a b C. Frégnac (ed.): Merveilles des châteaux de Normandie , 1966, p. 107.
  3. ↑ a b M.-P. Fouchet: O , 1979, p. 213.
  4. ↑ J.-P. Babelon: Châteaux de France au siècle de la renaissance , 1989, p. 77.
  5. ↑ Vanessa Yager (Ed.): Ouverts au public. Monuments historiques: chateaux et abbayes, parcs et jardins, sites industriels et archéologiques édifices du XXe siècle. Le guide du patrimoine en France . Monum, Edition du patrimoine, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-85822-760-8 , p. 517.
  6. ↑ a b J. and A. Cassaigne: 365 Châteaux de France , 2007, p. 578.
  7. ↑ a b C. Frégnac (Ed.): Merveilles des châteaux de Normandie , 1966, p. 108.
  8. ↑ a b c d e R. Legay de Leyde: Ô. Un château miroir , 1997 ( online ).

Coordinates: 48 ° 38 '52.6 "  N , 0 ° 5' 15.1"  E