Château de l'Herm
CastleHidden Treasure
Majestic ruin immersed in the forests of the Périgord, the château de l'Herm captivates with its sculpted Renaissance doorways and its tragic fate immortalised by Eugène Le Roy in 'Jacquou le Croquant'.
History
Emerging from the Barade forest like a medieval apparition, Château de l'Herm is one of the most striking ruins in the Périgord Noir. Its gutted towers, mullioned windows still intact and Renaissance fireplaces carved with astonishing precision seem to defy five centuries of abandonment and pillage. Far from being an ordinary ruin, L'Herm is a fragment of French humanism set in the golden stone of the Périgord limestone. What sets L'Herm apart from so many other derelict châteaux is the exceptional quality of its sculpted decoration. The entrance gates, adorned with pilasters, medallions and friezes in the antique style, bear witness to a patron in tune with the latest fashions from Italy. They reflect the ambitions of Jean de Calvimont and his son, men of law and letters with close ties to the royal authorities, who wanted to make their social ascent a permanent feature of marble and tufa stone. A visit to the Herm is an almost romantic experience. You enter the ruins along a wooded path that accentuates the effect of surprise and isolation. Inside the walls, the open-air rooms, the spiral staircases that can still be climbed and the remains of monumental fireplaces give an idea of the sumptuous lifestyle that prevailed here in the early 16th century. The vegetation everywhere adds to the atmosphere, without ever obscuring the essential. The site enjoys an exceptional natural setting, right in the heart of the Périgord Noir, not far from Rouffignac and its prehistoric caves. Photography enthusiasts will find infinite possibilities here, from the play of light filtered through the forest canopy to the contrasts of stone carved against the sky. Families, amateur historians and architecture enthusiasts will all find something to suit them on this off-the-beaten-track tour.
Architecture
Château de l'Herm belongs to the early French Renaissance architecture as it was expressed in Périgord at the beginning of the 16th century: a transition between the defensive arrangements of late Gothic and the new ornamental vocabulary from Italy. The general plan, which is partially legible despite the ruins, is organised around a main building flanked by towers, in a layout still rooted in medieval tradition. The castle's main interest lies in the exceptional quality of its sculptures. The portals feature an elaborate decorative programme: fluted pilasters, antique-style capitals, medallions, friezes with tracery and coats of arms make up a coherent whole that testifies to the use of first-rate sculptors. The monumental fireplaces preserved in situ are particularly remarkable, with their mantels adorned with plant motifs and bas-relief figures characteristic of the François I style. The mullioned bays, several of which are still in place, illustrate the successful combination of flamboyant Gothic tracery and Renaissance pilaster framing. The stone used is local Périgord limestone, with a warm, luminous hue that gives the ruins an almost golden presence in the sunlight.
Related Figures
Jean de Calvimont — magistrat périgourdin, fondateur du château au début du XVIe siècleJean II de Calvimont — fils du fondateur, ambassadeur de François Ier auprès de Charles Quint, achève le châteauFrançois Ier — roi de France dont Jean II de Calvimont fut le représentant diplomatiqueFamille de Hautefort — propriétaires du château à partir du XVIIe siècle, grands seigneurs du PérigordEugène Le Roy — romancier périgourdin qui immortalise l'Herm dans 'Jacquou le Croquant' (1899)
