Depliant Guide

History Visit The early Renaissance Information History Visit The early Renaissance Information History Visit The early Renaissance Information L L L English The early Renaissance in the Périgord Glossary Puyguilhem Persisting Gothic influences Bonnivet : castle belonging to Guillaume Gouffier, a favourite of François I. Built in the Château A first phase of building ran from 1510 to 1517, . Poitou between 1516 and 1525 but no longer 5 1 0 2 during which the round tower topped with r stands today. e An early Renaissance creation i v n a j machicolations was built. The windows are , * Hercules : the Roman name of the Greek hero a p i t S aligned at irregular intervals along the façade Heracles, embodying strength. He was n o i Construction s s of the buildings. e compelled to complete twelve labours to atone r p m i The spiral staircase is in an out-built polygonal . for the murder of his wife and children; the first e * l Mondot de La Marthonie, President of the z z u tower. These volumes still hark back to the P of these was to strangle the Nemean lion. n I Guyenne parliament in Bordeaux, bought the n * o i medieval tradition, and have low-relief rinceau Out-built : built up against another building. t c title of Puyguilhem at some stage before 1510. u d a decorations and letter friezes, the meaning of Machicolation : a stone gallery overhanging a wall r t He was a nobleman from the Perigord and legal . r e i which is obscure. There are also other patterns t enabling missiles to be dropped vertically. s e advisor to Louise of Savoy (mother of the future r o expressing royal favour, such as the royal fleur- F Parliament : a provincial court of law under e n King François I), and he went on to become the è l é de-lis and the Savoy knot, associated with H the monarchy. The oldest and most important - e first president of the Paris parliament in 1515. i r a the widowhood of Louise of Savoy. parliament was the Paris parliament. M He gained even greater influence at court when n o i t Putlog holes : recesses for pigeons and doves. a s i François I (1515-1547) left to wage war in Italy. l a é Loire Valley models r . s It was at this time that r e d Visitor information n A Mondot began work on , s n A little later, from 1525 to 1535, features first e S his château, marking his n i e used on the banks of the Loire started to appear, l Length of visit: 1 hour P n rise in society. After his o i such as the capping of the large tower and t The Château Guided tours in French. p e brutal death in 1517, his c in 1880, n main building, and the skylights topped with o c engraving by . project was continued by e r Gift and book shop i Baron de a pediments. The magnificently decorated chimney l p Verneilh his brother Gaston, until The guide for this monument can be found in the Itinéraires collection r u o stacks are reminiscent of Chambord. There are p in the gift and book shop. t c.1535. The château remained in the family until u o a larger number of sculpted decorations on these T n o the 18th century, when the Chapt de Rastignacs i t Centre des monuments nationaux a upper parts and on the grand staircase pavilion. r t s inherited it. There were several successive owners u Château de Puyguilhem l l There are similarities with Bonnivet Castle , i . * d 24530 Villars r in the early 20th century, but the building was o g i where work stopped in 1525, suggesting that tél. 05 53 54 82 18 r é P abandoned and almost fell into ruin. u some of the artists there may have come to d e www.monuments-nationaux.fr u q i g work at Puyguilhem, bringing their know-how o l o Restoration é h c and its Italian influences, already visible in r a t e nearby Quercy at Assier and Montal Castles, e u q The château was listed as a historic monument i r o t which were also being built at that time. s i h in 1880 and again in 1912 before being bought é t é i c by the State in 1939. Restoration work was o S s o t carried out under Yves-Marie Froidevaux, Head o h p s t Architect of Historic Monuments, and lasted i d é r c for over twenty years. *Explanations overleaf *Explanations overleaf History Visit The early Renaissance Information L The château comprises three parts laid out first floor ground floor in a U-shape and served by a grand staircase pavilion with a polygonal tower. A large fortified 6 10 N N tower which still has a medieval look stands alongside the main body. In the 16th century, 4 5 11 9 the château probably stood around a courtyard closed off by service buildings which no longer exist today. 2 and 3 7 8 In addition to the ground floor and upper storey, 1 the building also has an attic floor beneath the high roofs, with enormous skylight windows. On the facade the mullioned windows are aligned vertically in a way dictated by interior First floor The spiral stairway in the polygonal tower considerations. with remarkably sculpted ceilings on each Beneath the roof of the grand staircase, which The decorations and dimensions of the first-floor landing leads back to the ground floor. forms a canopy, there is a balcony with a living quarters illustrate the new social rank 8 The weapons room in the broad tower gives sculpted balustrade below and two richly acquired by the La Marthonie family. access to the gun-loops. The fireplace, with decorated skylights above. On the large tower 4 The great hall is 12 metres long and nearly a sculpted decoration of miniatures depicting the long line of decorative machicolations * is 100 square metres in size. The doorframe to the helmeted warriors above a rinceau frieze, a reminder of the original defensive purposes lord’s bedchamber has flat mouldings forming is typical of the early Renaissance. of this type of architecture. an entablature at the top. The exceptionally 9 The dining hall still has its 16th-century wash wide fireplace has superb sculpted decoration basin recessed into the wall. The grand staircase pavilion comprising six recesses with bas-reliefs depicting 10 Cooking equipment and a collection of old the labours of Hercules *. The only original warming pans are displayed in the fireplace 1 The grand spiral staircase is broad and scene, Hercules and the Nemean lion, is on in the kitchen . comfortable, and opens onto fine hallways. the right. The missing parts have been restored 11 The lower or reception hall features two late The one on the ground floor has pointed arches using a different moulding formation in order 16th-century Flemish tapestries with animal decorated with animals from the medieval to mark a clear difference. motifs. bestiary. 5 The lord's bedchamber : the Aubusson tapestry 2 The hallway on the first floor has a richly was completed in the 18th century from cartoons In the 18th and 19th centuries, the large pond decorated coffered ceiling decorated with thistle by Jean-Baptiste Huet, and depicts a pastoral in the valley was drained, which changed the flowers, salamanders and cherubim. scene. aspect of the area around the château. 3 The second floor , which is vaulted on crossed 6 A private room (dressing room) is linked The elegant boxtree maze was designed in the ogives, is decorated with keys from a coat of to the bedroom via a corridor built into the 1950s. It is evocative of Italian Renaissance arms held by putti. A third hallway with a thickness of the wall. It opens onto a small garden art. coffered ceiling provides access to the large attic private room for retiring. At the bottom of the broad avenue of lime trees rooms, where the oak roof timbers with their 7 The châtelaine's bedchamber is in the large stands a dovecote with 250 putlog holes *, king posts are still intact together with all their round tower. A dressing room with a fireplace evidence of the wealth of the lord of the manor. 16th-century component parts. and small retiring room completes these apartments. *Explanations overleaf.

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