Pigeonnier de la Garenne
MonumentHidden Treasure
Pigeonnier de la Garenne, located in Eymet (Dordogne), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Eymet, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.6837, 0.3594
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00082531
A stone and brick sentinel in the heart of the Bergerac region, this 18th-century dovecote combines Périgord half-timbering and a characteristic mitre in an architectural balance of rare rural elegance.
History
In the heart of the bastide town of Eymet, in this Purple Périgord where vineyard hillsides rub shoulders with tobacco plains, the Pigeonnier de la Garenne stands out as one of those discreet but indisputable witnesses to farming life under the Ancien Régime. Modest in appearance, it reveals to the attentive observer a construction of astonishing sophistication for a utilitarian country building. What distinguishes this dovecote from the multitude of similar buildings dotted around the Dordogne is above all its original load-bearing structure: four main beams, the poitraux, rest on as many columns and support the entire wall. This system allows the walls - a clever combination of brick and half-timbering - to rise without ever touching the ground, thus protecting the precious feathered tenants from terrestrial predators. The whole structure is covered with a unified rendering that gives it a homogenous, slender silhouette. A visit to this building is an invitation to immerse yourself in the everyday life of large 18th-century country estates. Owning a dovecote, once the exclusive preserve of the nobility and then extended to the landed bourgeoisie after the Revolution, was a clear sign of social status. Pigeon droppings, or colombine, were also a precious and fiercely guarded fertiliser that ensured the fertility of the surrounding land. The interior, once accessible by a simple ladder slid through the central opening in the floor, must have housed hundreds of boulins - the terracotta or brick niches where the pigeons nested. Today, the light filters through the bolster at the top of the building, the characteristic cap that protects the building from the Perigord rain while letting the birds in and out. It is this detail, both functional and aesthetic, that gives the dovecote its distinctive profile in the Garenne landscape. For visitors in search of authenticity, the Pigeonnier de la Garenne offers a timeless stopover. Far from the crowds that flock to the châteaux of the Dordogne, this protected monument is an ideal stop-off point for anyone wishing to understand the vernacular architecture of the South-West and the unsuspected wealth of heritage in the bastide town of Eymet.
Architecture
The Pigeonnier de la Garenne has a remarkably ingenious load-bearing structure: four horizontal main beams - the "poitraux" - rest on four columns that raise the whole building above ground level. This principle, inherited from a long-standing local building tradition, was primarily intended to prevent damp from seeping in and, above all, to keep rodents and other terrestrial predators away from the eggs and squabs. On this raised plinth are four walls made of a mixture of brick and half-timbering - Périgord half-timbering - the decorative and structural motifs of which are now hidden beneath a uniform rendering, giving the building a smooth, peaceful silhouette. The building is crowned by a four-sided roof covered in flat tiles, typical of traditional roofing in Périgord and neighbouring Lot-et-Garonne. At the top of this roof, an opening - the lantern - allows pigeons to circulate between inside and outside. This opening is surmounted by a mitre, an architectural feature that is as functional as it is aesthetic: this cap in the shape of a slanted hat or turned bell tower protects the opening from rain while allowing the birds to pass through freely, offering them shelter from the prevailing winds. The mitre is one of the most distinctive features of the Périgord dovecote, and its presence on the Garenne building underlines the meticulous quality of the construction. Inside, which used to be accessible from the centre of the floor via a trapdoor and a removable ladder - an additional safety system against predators - the walls would have been lined with boulins, the brick or terracotta cells used as pigeon nests, arranged in regular rows. The small but functional interior space could accommodate several hundred couples, depending on the surface area available, making this building a highly effective agricultural tool.
Related Figures
Alphonse de Poitiers — fondateur de la bastide d'Eymet en 1270, dont le développement urbain forma le cadre dans lequel s'inscrit ce patrimoineÉdouard Ier d'Angleterre — confirma les droits de la bastide d'Eymet, participant à l'essor de la régionPropriétaire terrien du XVIIIe siècle — commanditaire anonyme de l'édifice, vraisemblablement issu de la bourgeoisie ou petite noblesse périgordineRévolutionnaires de 1789 — par le décret du 4 août, ils abolirent le droit exclusif de colombier et modifièrent durablement le statut des pigeonniers en France
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Pigeonnier de la Garenne located?
Pigeonnier de la Garenne is located in Eymet, Dordogne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
When was Pigeonnier de la Garenne built?
Pigeonnier de la Garenne dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Pigeonnier de la Garenne open to visitors?
Pigeonnier de la Garenne is currently closed to visitors.
