Château
CastleHidden Treasure
On the borders of the Perche and Beauce regions, Château de Frazé features machicolated turrets and an elegant Renaissance gateway set around a French garden of rare grace.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Nestling in the Percheron bocage of the Eure-et-Loir département, Château de Frazé is one of those discreet jewels that rural France jealously hides. Its medieval silhouette, with its massive corner towers and gallery of machicolations running along the forecourt, blends surprisingly delicately with the Renaissance ornamentation of its entrance portal, testifying to a pivotal moment in French architecture, suspended between the Gothic heritage and the new forms coming from Italy. What really sets Frazé apart from other stately homes in the Perche region is the coherence of its ensemble: the outbuildings, remodelled in the 17th and 18th centuries, harmoniously extend the medieval buildings, while the formal garden in front of the château is a masterly composition of tiered terraces, stone steps, a central path and a white-water canal that reflects the surrounding foliage. Visitors enter the estate through this orderly garden, where eighteenth-century statues watch over the flowerbeds with smiling gravity. The experience is one of gradual discovery: the facades are revealed as you walk along the paths, revealing traces of the drawbridge that was condemned in the 19th century, the elegant mullioned windows adorned with Renaissance motifs, and the machicolation gallery that links the entrance to the north corner of the château in a fine balance between defensive function and architectural aesthetics. The natural setting enhances the charm of the whole. Although the artificial ponds that once surrounded the fortress have been replaced by dry moats since the ditches were filled in in 1824, the meadows and woodlands of the surrounding Perche region give the site a melancholy, soothing atmosphere, far removed from the main tourist routes. Frazé is for lovers of authentic heritage who prefer the flavour of an intimate discovery to the hustle and bustle of the most popular monuments.
Architecture
Château de Frazé belongs to this generation of stately homes built at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, when French builders gradually abandoned the flamboyant Gothic aesthetic in favour of the ornamental vocabulary of the Italian Renaissance, without abandoning the defensive systems inherited from the Middle Ages. The original plan is square, punctuated by two large circular corner towers and a corbelled watchtower that highlights one of the corners, in keeping with the classic formula of medieval military architecture. The most remarkable element of the composition is undoubtedly the entrance facade, framed by two turrets linked at the top by a projecting gallery of machicolations topped by a roof. This device, which is both functional and decorative, ensures visual continuity between the turrets while providing a defensive space above the gateway. The mullioned windows and sculpted ornamentation on the portal introduce new Renaissance features: medallions, foliage, pilasters and composite capitals bear witness to the spread of Italian models in the civil architecture of northern France in the early 16th century. The outbuildings, remodelled in the 17th and 18th centuries on the site of the former farmyard, are part of a more sober and functional style of architecture, typical of the outbuildings of rural estates. The formal garden, laid out in front of the château, completes the ensemble with a geometric composition structured around a central avenue, tiered terraces and a white-water canal, bordered by 18th-century stone statues that add a classical touch to this ordered space.
Related Figures
Florentin Girard, seigneur de Barenton — commanditaire du château vers 1493-1500Le baron de Bron — suzerain féodal ayant accordé l'autorisation de construction en 1493Les propriétaires du XVIIe siècle — responsables du remaniement des communs et de la création du jardin à la françaiseLes propriétaires du XVIIIe siècle — commanditaires des statues et des aménagements classiques du jardin
