Manoir du Plessis
ManorHidden Treasure
Manoir du Plessis, located in Vouvray (Indre-et-Loire), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Manor
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Vouvray, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.4384, 0.7852
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098300
In the heart of the Vouvray vineyards, the Manoir du Plessis reveals its corbelled turrets and giant circular shafts, discreet witnesses of a Loire fiefdom with late Renaissance accents.
© Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia
History
Nestling in the gentle undulations of the Vouvray hillside, where the white tufa rock rises up between the rows of vines, the Manoir du Plessis is one of those buildings that you come across almost by chance, hidden behind a curtain of vegetation, and which reveals, to those who linger there, all the complexity of a rural heritage that is often overlooked. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1981, the estate's architecture is both sober and singular, halfway between a seigneurial residence and a noble farmhouse. The first thing that strikes you is the deliberate sobriety of the main dwelling: a long, rectangular building stretching the entire length of a vaulted cellar that serves as its base, as if the building had grown out of the limestone bowels of the hillside. This cellar, dug into the tufa stone in accordance with a deep-rooted Angevin and Touraine tradition, gave the manor house a precious natural freshness, ideal for preserving the famous Vouvray wine. The south-western corner turret, corbelled onto a trompe l'oeil vault, is an eye-catching reminder of the discreet elegance that even modesty can have its refinements. Further to the north of the estate are the ruins of a second 17th-century dwelling, built of brick and stone in the typical style of provincial classicism. This square pavilion with its slightly recessed wing illustrates the ambition of its owners, who over the generations sought to modernise and extend their estate. But it is undoubtedly the monumental circular fuye in the north-east corner that is the most spectacular and unexpected feature of the complex. Finally, the setting is not to be outdone. The Vouvray vineyards envelop the manor in a listed landscape, where troglodytic cellars dot the hillsides and the breath of the nearby Loire River imposes its slow, majestic rhythm. For visitors with a taste for authenticity, Le Plessis offers the rare thrill of touching a heritage that has not been excessively restored, and still bears the scars and silences of its past.
Architecture
The architecture of the Manoir du Plessis is a composite whole, the result of two major building campaigns around a century apart. The main dwelling is laid out in a long horizontal rectangle, typical of rural noble houses in the Touraine region, with a vaulted cellar dug into the tufa stone or built of the same light-coloured limestone. This layout, common in the Vouvray region, where the vineyards required vast winemaking and storage areas, gives the building an imposing base despite its relatively modest elevation. The most remarkable feature of the old dwelling is its south-western corner turret, the corbelled base of which rests on a trompe l'oeil vault lined with a half-berch - an ingenious structural combination that allows the turret to protrude without a foundation on the ground. Once probably circular and topped with a pepperpot roof, it illustrates the influence of the royal châteaux of the Loire on regional domestic architecture in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The second dwelling, to the north, introduces the brick-and-stone dialogue typical of Grand Siècle classicism in the provinces: the quoins, window surrounds and structural elements in white tufa contrast with the red brick infill, creating a two-tone layout that is both decorative and functional. The circular loft annexed to the north-east corner of this building is the estate's most unusual architectural feature: its extraordinary size places Le Plessis in the category of major seigneurial fiefs, the only ones entitled under the Ancien Régime to build dovecotes of this size.
Related Figures
Les seigneurs de la prévôté d'Oé (suzerains médiévaux du fief)Propriétaires du XVIe siècle (commanditaires du logis primitif et de la tourelle à encorbellement)Seigneurs du XVIIe siècle (bâtisseurs du second logis en brique et pierre et de la fuye)Familles vigneronnes tourangelles (exploitants du domaine aux XVIIIe-XIXe siècles)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Manoir du Plessis located?
Manoir du Plessis is located in Vouvray, Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Manoir du Plessis built?
Manoir du Plessis dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Manoir du Plessis open to visitors?
Manoir du Plessis is currently closed to visitors.