Château de Gazon
CastleHidden Treasure
Château de Gazon, located in Pocé-les-Bois (Département 35), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Castle
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Pocé-les-Bois, Département 35, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.1323, -1.2708
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090968
Tucked away in the Breton bocage, Château de Gazon boasts a 1.3km-long access path - the only one of its kind in Brittany - and romantic grounds where water mirrors and medieval moats meet gracefully.
History
In the heart of the Ille-et-Vilaine bocage, at Pocé-les-Bois, Château de Gazon is one of those discreet jewels that bring together several centuries of architectural and landscape ambition in one place. Away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist trade, it offers a breathtaking insight into the French art of living, from the medieval stronghold house to the 19th-century château de plaisance. The first thing that strikes you is the solemnity of the arrival point: a 1.3 kilometre-long rabine - the Breton term for a tree-lined access avenue - lines the path in a majestic double row. Nowhere else in Brittany can rival this planted walkway, which prepares visitors for their discovery of the estate. The château itself, rebuilt in the seventeenth century on the remains of a former stronghold house, features a classical layout on the south facade, added in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. This late addition, far from being a simple veneer, testifies to the care taken by the owners at the time to modernise their residence without denying its past. The interiors, completely refurbished in the 19th century, combine bourgeois elegance with provincial refinement: meticulous woodwork, light-filled reception rooms and decor that is characteristic of French Romantic taste. But it is perhaps the parkland that is the estate's true masterpiece. Designed in the 19th century in the English landscape style, it makes remarkable use of the undulating landscape and the former moats of the medieval manor house. These have been transformed into water features: a perfectly calm mirror of water, a pond lined with vegetation, and carefully composed perspectives between water and greenery. The result is a living tableau in which nature seems orchestrated by an invisible hand. The estate also includes well-preserved nineteenth-century stables, a formal kitchen garden and an old farmhouse - part of which was unfortunately swallowed up when the Villamur dam was built. This painful episode highlights the fragility of rural heritage in the face of modern development, and the opportunity represented by the preservation of the château itself. For lovers of heritage, historic gardens or simply tranquil beauty, Château de Gazon is an unforgettable stop-off point on your tour of inland Brittany.
Architecture
Château de Gazon has a composite architecture, the result of three major building campaigns from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The main building, erected in the second half of the 17th century, adopts the classical canons of the Breton noble residence: sober volumes, steeply pitched roofs and evenly distributed windows. Local materials - Breton granite and schist - very probably dominate the construction, giving the building the austere grey hue typical of the region's architectural heritage. The great architectural originality of the château lies in the superimposition of two time periods on the southern facade: the seventeenth-century building was faced, in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, with an ordered facade of pilasters and regular bays. This screen façade, designed to house prestigious reception rooms on the first floor, reflects an ambition for social representation typical of the upper middle classes and provincial nobility of the July Monarchy. The nineteenth-century interiors, which have been completely refurbished, feature high-quality rooms with wood panelling, fireplaces and decor typical of the Second Empire and Restoration periods. The estate as a whole extends far beyond the main building. The nineteenth-century stables, the French-style kitchen garden and the superb 1.3-kilometre-long driveway - planted with a double row of majestic trees - are all outstanding architectural and landscape features. The romantic park, organised around the former medieval moat that has been converted into a water mirror and pond, is a perfect illustration of the principles of the English landscape garden: freedom of form, exploitation of the relief, and the use of water and vegetation to create a poetic and melancholy atmosphere.
Related Figures
Seigneurs médiévaux de Gazon — premiers bâtisseurs de la maison forte bretonnePropriétaires du XVIIe siècle — commanditaires de la reconstruction du château actuelPropriétaires du XIXe siècle — maîtres d'ouvrage de la façade classique et du parc romantiquePaysagiste du XIXe siècle (anonyme) — concepteur du parc et de la mise en valeur des douves médiévales
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Château de Gazon located?
Château de Gazon is located in Pocé-les-Bois, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Château de Gazon built?
Château de Gazon dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Château de Gazon open to visitors?
Château de Gazon is currently closed to visitors.