Interesting new castle

[RobertArthur]

Going back to the Middle Ages to visit a building site?



Yes you can. More than twenty years ago they made a start: finding a site, lots of research, rediscover or reinvent old building techniques. To build a medieval 13-th century castle. After a slow start, not many believers in this project, it has become a major attraction in Burgundy. The castle of Guédelon. When we visited the site, a rainy day in November 2008, the last day of the season, the parking was almost empty, only one tourist bus. To give you an impression of this still unfinished work a quick look at it.

By the way: perhaps a new category "Places of interest to visit" might have been a better place for this tourist information. In "Leisure and Pastimes" or "Living in France".


Edit: as you may have noticed - or not - I mixed up left and right in the first picture I linked here. Look in the mirror boy, now it shows that many people in the Middle Ages were right-handed.

[Oldblueraincoat]

I often wonder how many artisans and labourers died building Cathedrals, churches and Chateaux in the past - With little or no safety precautions or building regulations it must have been a very dangerous profession. Vauban is one of my favourite architects but his fortresses were built in some of the most inhospitable places in France.

[RobertArthur]

Vauban's own chateau in Bazoches (Nièvre, near Vezelay) is a rather hospitable place, not a fortress......

[Oldblueraincoat]

It's a beauty - probably because Vauban didn't design or build it himself

[Char]

Fascinating - we have things so easy now a days. The amount of work that went into old buildings is astounding.

I suppose that really goes for everything to do with everyday life as well - we don't no how easy our lives are in comparison.

Thanks - I'm off to look at the second one now.

[RobertArthur]

@ Oldblueraincoat, Vauban made the chateau to what it is now, a major renovation under his supervision. So he certainly was more than a designer of fortifications. He is also the author of many books. In his chateau I saw a study on the Turkish agriculture and in his last years he wrote a daring essay about the need of fiscal reforms in France. Vauban is where modern France begins.....

[AmandaJ]

I would love to visit Guédelon at some point, unlikely though as we never seem to get out of our department. My husband has become a hermit

[DominicBest]

I visited for a day about five years ago, it was fascinating. It’s also a perfect example of how archeological research and tourism can be symbiotic working side by side. One thing that I really liked was that their (well researched) site was even better than they had hoped when they found it contained clay suitable for making tiles and bricks from.
Before my visit I’d watched a brilliant Channel 4 documentary about it where the team were filmed living and working on site in medieval conditions for months. I’ve still got the DVD set somewhere.

[RobertArthur]

@ Amanda1, okay, a digital sightseeing tour it will be. Emphasis on lime mortar (mortier à la chaux) techniques. How did they do it? The pictures: again an illustration of medieval building sites. And a summary (in French) of the research carried out by the Guédelon team to use 13-th century construction techniques and materials. Impressive, chapeau.

[DominicBest]

BBC 2 not Channel 4.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secrets_of_the_Castle