Association 'Richelieu 17th - 21st'

The Association Richelieu XVIIe-XXIe was set up by a group of local enthusiasts of the cité idéale who hope to make a contribution to the recent developments and restorations, and in particular to provide a conduit for private patronage and finance of aspects of the town that have fallen into dereliction or general neglect.  

In their first year of 2009 they hoped that they could stimulate and inspire the restoration of the Porte de Chinon, the northerly gate of the town.  It was thought that this neglected structure, in the stewardship of the municipality, could be restored in such a way as to provide a truly iconic image for the town that might encapsulate the splendid and picturesque qualities of the cardinal's concept though modern digital media, now so important in the 21st century.  They remain hopeful that the attention lavished on this structure will finally catalyse a project for its comprehensive restoration.

The Mairie has apparently  responded  positively to the idea of the digging-out of the moat at this point to make watery base to the composition of the gate, gate-houses and the flanking town walls.  One day soon....

In 2011, their attention is now drawn to a more modest objective: the restoration of the 'false gate' to the town; one of the 6 original gates that were constructed, but the only one that did not lead to a thoroughfare and on to a destination, as it was blocked by the huge ducal hunting parc.  This High Baroque composition at the end of the vista from the Loudun gate is designed with a scale and flamboyance that make it imposing even at the distances at which it will be perceived - often several hundred metres. Behind today's humble timber gate are sluices to the Mable river that encircles the town, a bridge into the parc and a more recent electrical sub-station.

On the right hand side the gate's original 'pepperpot' has just been carefully improved will the full rigours of Bâtiments de France and their magnificent representative architecte. The left-hand pepperpot has been absorbed into a later structure - a works - apparently recently sold and bought. This bit of dereliction needs a little action, please!

This gate has a very strong presence as it lies on the EW axis of the place du Marché.  It is probably the most Mannerist element in the town's design. In its own way it is bien grandiose.

We all hope that the Association Richelieu XVIIe-XXIIe will find more traction for this project than they did with the Porte de Chinon, and that their Association can propose and execute a real benefit to the town as a calling card to larger projects and propositions in the future.

from the Loudun Gate

from the place Louis XIII

the Mannerist composition

the gatehouse?

The gate's canopy and the sad old masonry

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The new tourist office 1 - Progress...

mpdf

CLICK HERE for an article on the town's acquisition of the 'Grand Colbert'...

click here to make a financial contribution to the project....

The project is being financed by, amongst others, the FONDATION DU PATRIMOINE which is a French organisation that has been set up to support important redevelopments or restorations that fall outside the normal boundaries of projects that are the direct responsibility of the State.  While it is directly assisted by many corporate patrons, even Mme. Bettencourt of L'Oréal - 'Europe's Richest Woman' -  it welcomes donations by any individual, and has set up the means to receive these funds - see 'click here' above!

The future location of the tourist office, next to the church
on the place du Marché

the hôtel particulier façade

the opposite number, symmetrically across the square

the location of the former ground floor tabac

le grand colbert was on the upper floors

down the rue de Loudun looking east

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A roof restored

This photo shows a roof at the southern end of the rue des Galères that has just been restored.  In this particular case it has been carried out with new red tiles and shiny new zinc guttering in the local Touraine manner.  In the hard afternoon sunshine the 19th century style gutter-board casts a hard shadow on the crepi of the wall beneath.  The new lucarne - rooflight - is left open to ventilate the roof-space which looks too low to be much more than a storage attic.  The ridge tiles are pointed in the Touraine manner with little mortar crests.  Time, algae and moss will soon 'distress' the pristine project, but at the moment it looks almost too good to be true.

The Abbé Henri Proust started this blog in part to convince himself - and then others - that the little 'lost' town of Richelieu really was a dynamic and living community. He hoped that this seemingly improbable fact would be confirmed by new projects and reconstructions taking place within this tranquill historic setting.  To his amazement, the blogging task has shown that this hope is in fact realised - since 2004 the rate of restoration has really ramped up, and today continues at a frenzied (but  tranquill) pace, more that anyone might expect from a casual visit.  The municipality has recreated one of the town's two squares, several of the hôtel particuliers on the Grand Rue have been saved from pathetic dereliction, the town now has two - yes two - museums to entertain and inform their visitors.  Two of the grand pavilions on the place du Marché have been restored or are in the course of restoration.  Very soon the Halle will undergo a full restoration of its roof....

Even humble roofs are being restored....

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The church tower

The bell tower, looking South, supporting a pair of zinc-faced obelisks
Note the charming access stair pepperpot!

The only existing building directly by the hand of the King's premier architecte, Jacques Lermercier, is the church, Nôtre Dame de Richelieu, on the place du Marché.  The rest of the town's original major edifices are to designs prepared by his brothers or Jean Marot, the well-known 17th century architect/engraver.  The grandiose ducal château itself, also by young Jacques, was finally demolished in the 1830s.

A curious fact is that this church faces West, i.e. the sunset, rather than the city of Jerusalem to the East, the direction of sunrise and, by analogy, resurrection.  When Jacques' English contemporary royal architect, Inigo Jones, was faced by a similar layout problem in the plans for the new Covent Garden in London, he ensured that the altar of the actor's church, St Paul's Covent Garden, actually faced east but had a ceremonial portico facing west  onto the square (under which Audrey Hepburn was to frolic as a London flower-seller in 'My Fair Lady'). So why would a cardinal of the Roman church endorse such symbolic laxity?  Where is Dan Brown when you need him?

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Building works progress at the Cinéma Majestic

The town of Richelieu has a fine cinema within the walls that is run by local enthusiasts of the movies.  It is called the Majestic. It is accommodated in an old warehouse that lies in the backlands of one of the former houses at the foot of rue Henri Proust.  

The town council supports the cinema.  It is really a delight to visit, with lovely (clean) seats and good modern projection equipment.  Country people from all the hamlets and villages that surround the cité idéale drive in by car to see the latest French and international films.  Sometimes it is used for theatrical presentations as there is a modest stage behind the screen.

The entry arch is moved

The new gateway

To allow the addition of new facilities, including digital and 3-D equipment, the buildings on the street itself are now under restoration.  Here are a couple of pictures showing the works at the end of August 2011.

HERE is another post on the cinema

The façade in September 2011;
the cinema re-opens
Awaiting the new rendering...

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Xavier Gagnepain plays Bach at the 5th Fête de Musique de Richelieu 2011

the audience in the Dôme and even the cardinal himself await the start of the recital...

with the knowledge of the festival's directors Nicholas Boyer and Gala Ringger

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French property tax rises on secondary homes

Check this site out if you are considering selling your maison secondaire and incurring a capital gain.  This new and latest tax adjustment does not only apply to English second home owners, as did the former cunning tax-raising suggestion recently dismissed.

http://www.french-property.com/news/tax_france/budget_aug_2011_property_taxes/

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The Puits Doré extends...

The hotel located on the main place du Marché has acquired the property to its rear and now includes the entire hôtel particulier - or mansion - located next to the Châtellerault gate that leads from the ville idéale to the duc's domainal parc.  The restoration works are now well under way, and we show pictures of recent stages of the construction phase.

The hotel seems to be prospering and the additional rooms that will be provided (and indeed the new lift) will increase the hotel's income and commercial viability.

looking towards the porte de Châtellerault

the design and contractor team

looking onto the place du Marché

the side elevation onto the Grande Rue

No doubt, the works will be under the detailed scrutiny of the town's dragon of the STAP and architecte des Bâtiments de France, Mme. Adrienne Barthelemey, who will ensure that the restoration of such an important element of the town's architecture will ratchet towards the hoped-for emphasis on the original designs of the 1630s, created by the brothers Lemercier for the cardinal and King Louis XIII.

half-timbered construction - colombage - in the courtyard

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Careless beauty and decay

a grand piano nobile

a humble dwelling for the lower classes

The elegance of the style of the reign of Louis XIII might be exemplified by these two almost derelict buildings in Richelieu's town...

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More details of the statue of the cardinal...

With this second post on the subject, we take a bit more time with the statue of the cardinal duc, Armand-Jean du Plessis, the founder of so many French activities and organisations that have endured to our day.  The statue is located on the place that sits between his château's domainal parc to the south and his model town to the north.

He poses giving a cardinal's blessing to the viewer with his right hand, while holding the document of foundation of the Académie Française (dated as 1635) in his left.

the cardinal scrubs up well...

the all-seeing, all-knowing statesman

The statue has several 'credits' attached to it.

the sculptor's credit 1828

the relocation of the statue in 1932

the Second Regiment of the Marines

dedications from the Second Regiment of the Marines

• The sculptor - C(laude) Ramey, père - Dijon, dated 1828
• The inauguration of the statue in Richelieu 17 July 1932, probably as part of the bequest of the domainal parc to the Sorbonne (of which Armand-Jean was the first rector, and in whose chapel he rests to this day) by the eigth and last duke.  It had formerly been located on the Pont Neuf of Henri IV in Paris for the period 1828-1932.
• Two plaques of the Second Regiment of the Marines to their first Chef de Corps, one from 1932(?) and the other from the Lieutenants of the Second of the Marine, dated 9 December 1995 to their founding 'father'.  The old strategist and pupil of Pluvinel's equestreian & military academy is not forgotten!

the cardinal up closer

the foundation of the Academie Française

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Estate agents - when the music stops...

There were, until recently, three estate agents in the Place du Marché in Richelieu who all offered properties to visitors and locals.

Thiot was there first on the northern side of the square; they offered in addition restoration services to those who had fallen in love with one of Touraine's tumbledown delights.  But the years rolled on, and M. et Mme. Thiot have gone to their retirement. The old agency is now unoccupied and sad.

The second property agent, well known to the Abbé Henri Proust, Touraine Immo, seems to have closed up shop, again leaving an unoccupied office, this time on the eastern face of the square.

Then, and thirdly, the shop of Archard Immobilier on the eastern side, this time run by two rosbifs, and reflecting the strong UK interest in French country properties in the 2000-2010 period, has closed, maybe because of the financial crisis has taken the heat out of the sales of upmarket properties.

But nature and commerce abhorr a vacuum and a new property agent, Richelieu Immobilier, has now sprung up to meet demand.

Below pictures of their new office and the information in the window.

The new office in Route de Loudun

Details and contacts

The town's notaire, Maître Pierre Gravel continues to sell properties, as is normal in the French property system, in addition to supervising on behalf of the French State the transfer of most local property ownerships from seller to buyer.

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The cardinal duc scrubs up well...

the statue of the cardinal duc on the place Cardinal, in front of the porte de Châtellerault

before...

after...

This newly-cleaned statue stands between the cité idéale and the domainal parc and château.

It was carved in 1828 by sculptor Claude Ramey (29 Oct 1754 - 4 June 1838)

and formerly located on the Pont de la Concorde in Paris.

Now maintained by the French 2nd Regiment of Marines

 of whom A-J d P was

and is now a patron.

more on this statue HERE

many thanks to
http://inandaroundbraye.blogspot.com/

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