Exploring Château Marouatte: The Inner Terrace

 Exploring Château Marouatte: The Inner Terrace

Part 5

After the small rooms, hidden stairways and unexpected discoveries of my earlier wandering, I came back out into one of the château’s broad open spaces. Here, Château Marouatte suddenly presents itself on a much grander scale.

This is the inner terrace, where the towers, garden and everyday life of the château all seem to meet.

Photos IMG_4971 and IMG_4972

The first thing that commands attention is the round crenellated tower standing at the edge of the terrace. Beyond its stone parapet, the land falls away into the wooded countryside.

The château’s layout helps explain this feeling of being both enclosed and high above the landscape. Marouatte was built with two fortified enclosures, and the inner complex was protected by round corner towers. Historical descriptions place the château roughly forty meters above the Euche valley. 

Yet the space in front of me does not feel particularly defensive today.

There are black iron tables and chairs scattered across pale gravel. Benches line the old stone wall. Garden beds soften the edges. Beyond everything is that enormous expanse of green.

A place once designed around walls and protection has become a wonderful place to sit.

Photos IMG_4973 and IMG_4974

Turning around gives an entirely different view.

Now the château rises dramatically behind the garden.

The tall tower with its steep slate roof dominates the scene, while another round crenellated tower appears behind it. The buildings are not perfectly symmetrical, and that is precisely what makes them so visually interesting. Towers, rooflines, walls, arches and additions overlap one another, showing how the château developed and changed over time.

That impression is historically appropriate. Marouatte is principally associated with the 15th and 16th centuries, but it has been substantially altered and restored, particularly in the modern era. 

From the garden, however, I am less interested in sorting out centuries than simply enjoying the composition.

The château is magnificent from here.

And I especially like the contrast between all that monumental stone and the ordinary patio table in front of me.

Photos IMG_4975 and IMG_4976

Of course, I started looking up.

The pointed slate roof of the tower seems almost impossibly tall when viewed from directly below. At the very top is a long metal finial or rod, while a neighboring smaller turret carries a weather vane.

Then there are the details.

A tiny leaded-glass window sits high in the roof. Stone ornament decorates the little gable surrounding it. Beneath the roofline are dark openings, followed by a magnificent ring of projecting stone corbels.

These are the sorts of details that disappear when photographing the entire château.

Zoom in, and suddenly the architecture becomes a collection of shapes and textures: slate, carved stone, leaded glass, iron and centuries of weathering.

Photo IMG_4977

The projecting stonework is especially beautiful up close.

Each corbel steps outward from the tower, creating a strong rhythm of light and shadow. Above them runs a band of pointed decorative stone motifs. Below them, the massive curved wall continues downward.

The feature evokes the machicolations associated with medieval fortifications, openings and projecting galleries that allowed defenders to protect the base of a wall. At Marouatte, however, restoration complicates any attempt to assign every visible feature to a particular medieval building phase. Historical sources note substantial later restoration and architectural intervention. 

That actually makes me look more carefully.

What is medieval?

What was restored?

What was recreated?

The building itself becomes a puzzle.

Photo IMG_4978

Then, once again, my attention came down from the towers to a door.

This one is wonderful.

It sits at the base of a narrow projecting section of the château, almost squeezed between enormous expanses of wall. Above the heavy dark wooden door is a carved stone cartouche or medallion, then a traditional lantern and a tall leaded window.

Two stone ornaments stand like sentries beside the entrance.

Even the dried plants in the urns seem appropriate. Nothing here feels overly polished. The weathering is part of the beauty.

Photo IMG_4979

And then there is real life.

Laundry.

There is something I love about seeing a drying rack standing against the wall of a château.

Nearby are terracotta pots, flowering oleander, climbing vines, a drainpipe, a keypad and all the little practical things required for people to actually live and work here.

It is a useful reminder that Château Marouatte is not a museum display frozen in time. It is a private property with an extraordinarily long history, but it is also a functioning place. 

Medieval tower.

Ancient stone.

Security keypad.

Laundry rack.

Perfect.

Photo IMG_4980

Back at the table, I found another photograph that captures exactly what I like about this courtyard.

In the foreground is an intricate black metal tabletop with a decorative lantern and candle. Behind it rises the château.

The scale difference is wonderful. Something as small as a candle sits against towers that have dominated this hillside for centuries.

But there was still one more surprise.

At the edge of one of the towers stands an enormous animal sculpture.

At first glance it almost disappears against the rough stone wall. Then you notice the long ears, elongated muzzle and upright body. It appears to be a stylized donkey or similar animal, standing almost like a guard beside the iron railing.

I have learned not to be particularly surprised by such things here.

After all, this is Château Marouatte.

There might be a medieval architectural fragment around one corner, laundry around the next, a mysterious staircase behind a door, and a giant donkey standing beside a tower.

That mixture is becoming one of my favorite things about the place.

The historical record describes Marouatte as an imposing fortified complex of towers, enclosures, residential buildings, chapel and keep.  But walking through it reveals something that an architectural description cannot.

The château has personality.

It is grand without being precious. Historic without feeling frozen. Beautiful without being perfectly manicured.

And after several days of wandering around with my camera, I am discovering that sometimes my favorite photographs are not the grand views at all.

They are the photographs where centuries collide.

A castle tower and a patio chair.

Carved stone and a flowerpot.

A fortress wall and a drying rack.

Those are the little scenes that tell me this château is not simply surviving.

It is still being lived in.