28 April 2014

Old photos of the covered market hall at Richelieu

Last week on the Days on the Claise blog, which I read daily, Susan and Simon did a topic about the old market hall in the town of Richelieu, in southern Touraine. The covered market structure has been renovated over the past couple of years, according to a post I read another local blog, written by Colin and Elizabeth.

All that got me searching back through my own blog to see if I had any photos of the Richelieu market hall, which was built in the 17th century out of chestnut logs. I remembered going there with our friend Cheryl in 2003, and again with our friend CHM in 2006. Actually, as far as the years when we were there, I had to do some searching to pin them down.


Above is a photo of the market structure that I took in 2003. It has been greatly refurbished recently, as Susan wrote. Richelieu itself is interesting as an example of a "new" town that was built from scratch starting in 1631. The Cardinal Richelieu was a powerful political figure of the time and served as the French king's prime minister.


We went back to Richelieu in 2006 and I took the photo above. It was a quick visit. I have a vague memory of little boys on bicycles racing around between the wooden posts that hold up the market hall ceiling. The famous cardinal built himself a magnificent château outside his "new town"  of Richelieu but it was demolished in the 18th and 19th centuries as a symbol of Ancien Régime opulence. Nothing much remains of that, but the market hall is impressive. I need to drive back over there one of these days to see how it has been fixed up.

8 comments:

  1. Very pretty! The best part was reading the comments on Susan's blog. I think the word contractor (like chef) is a very loose word sometimes.

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    1. I think 'contractor' is the U.S. word for what in England is called 'a builder' or in France un entrepreneur or un artisan.

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  2. Wow. That is an amazing wood structure to see. How much of that do you think is original from the 17th C?

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  3. Very impressive woodwork. Do the Richelais hold a weekly market under that structure?

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    1. Here's what I find, Dean:

      Richelieu markets

      Richelieu is a two-hour drive from Saint-Aignan, so I don't get there often.

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  4. It certainly looks sturdy.

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  5. Ken, If you come over do call in and see us. Colin & Elizabeth

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