“Very little remains of Loire architecture or art from before the year 1000....” says the Cadogan Loire guidebook.
There are dolmens scattered around in the Saumurois, in southern Touraine, and in southwestern Anjou.
There’s a dolmen just a few miles south of Chinon, near the village called Ligré, that I’ve visited
a few times and that’s pretty impressive. It’s estimated to be five or six thousand years old.
There are dolmens scattered around in the Saumurois, in southern Touraine, and in southwestern Anjou.
There’s a dolmen just a few miles south of Chinon, near the village called Ligré, that I’ve visited
a few times and that’s pretty impressive. It’s estimated to be five or six thousand years old.
Another example of architecture in France dating back more than a thousand years is the funerary towerat Cinq-Mars-la-Pile, which is “reckoned to have been erected as a mausoleum for
a wealthy second-century [A.D.] merchant,” according to Cadogan.
For centuries this skinny brick tower was thought to have been a lighthouse for boats sailing on the Loire river.The tower (la pile)stands about 30 meters (100 feet) tall and is just 10 kilometers downriver from Luynes.
It's said there was originally a much larger complex of buildings on the site. Only the tower remains.
There are also the ruins of a medieval château in Cinq-Mars.
I don’t recall going there.
ReplyDeleteWe did, though, that same day. I took my last photo in Luynes at 11:47, and my first one at Cina-Mars at 12:07. Then we went to Langeais and had lunch. Your camera wasn't yet repaired, so you didn't take any photos.
DeleteUsually, I have what I call a photographic memory, such as the mob at Ussé. But, like my Lumix, I have nothing for La Pile. So, thank you for telling me I was there.
DeleteI wrote about the mob of people at Ussé on my blog in 2010. My blog is my memory now.
DeleteYour blog is also my memory of things we did together, if I remember, that is!
DeleteHoly cow, what an unusual looking structure that is!
ReplyDeleteWeird, eh. Rabelais mentioned it in his writings 500 years ago. I wanted to see it because my birthday is the 5 mars.
DeleteWhat Judy said! Glad you saw it and learned that it is linked to your birthday.
DeleteIt is well preserved for an almost two thousands years old structure, no?
DeleteIs that fancy brick and stonework in the upper half from blocked up windows? or do you think it was part of the original structure? Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia French, the Pile is not hollow, but a solid structure covered with bricks. The meaning of the different brick patterns is not yet understood. These patterns are original.
DeleteQuite a contrast with the village homes below!
ReplyDeleteA very unusual structure. The brickwork must have been very tricky to complete. Obviously, highly skilled masons to have a structure last for amazingly over a thousand years.
ReplyDeleteMy first reaction to such a tall, thin structure is that it might have been part of a bridge. Do you know if there's been much archeological work on it, or in the vicinity? And I wonder what those patterns on the top part say.
ReplyDeleteThere's a long and very detailed Fr. Wikipédia article about the pile de Cinq-Mars here. One thing it says is that nobody knows what the significance of those geometric patterns is.
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