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  Le
stage de formation étant prodigué par des personnes
de langue anglaise certain d'entre vous peuvent se sentir exclus.
N'en croyez rien, l'art est universel et un geste est parfois
plus explicite que quelques mots. Si vous possedez quelque notions
d'anglais n'hésitez plus venez nous rejoindre pour participer
au stage de formation.
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Art d'Oc Drawing and Painting
in the Languedoc, South of France
The Castle and Gardens |
| The
Château de St-Ferriol is a château-fort (castle),
built in the sixteenth century towards the end of the period of
medieval castle building. Gunpowder and firearms had rendered
traditional castle building techniques obsolete, and castles were
still being built only in remote areas - like Scotland and the
Languedoc - where local wars still raged. |
 Chateau St Ferriol |
Later
changes, made around 1600 made the building a more comfortable
residence. Most of the old medieval windows were replaced by the
latest Renaissance style mullioned windows, providing much more
light. (A few medieval windows survive, including all of the windows
in one room). A new stone staircase was put in, and six monumental
fireplaces were built. |
Very little seems to have happened to the château since this time, except that it was partitioned into two, once in the
seventeenth century, and then again in the early twentieth century.
There are a large number of architectural puzzles - walls that
are clearly not original, others that appear to predate the present
building, no sign of a well, certain work carried out in a different
stone, an external door on the first floor leading nowhere, a
particularly unusual fireplace on the top floor, and so on. |
 The Gasconne cattle are still in the nearby Garrigue in June
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The building had not been occupied since the early twentieth
century until it was bought by James and Sophie McDonald in 1997.
It had been used as a farm building for many years with rabbits
in the fireplaces and pigeons in the towers. |
The château is now undergoing a long programme of restoration,
the objective being to return it, as far as possible, to its state
in around 1600, using authentic materials and techniques.
The château is terraced by gardens to the North, South,
East and West. These are being reclaimed with a planting theme
that focuses on indigenous wild edible plants, Mediterranean culinary,
aromatic and medicinal herbs in addition to classic fruit trees.
For more information click on the following link to The
Château de St-Ferriol. |
 Marylin Charcoal Drawing |
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