Thouars and Oiron: The Dukes' Château, the Romanesque Portal and a Renaissance Gallery of Curiosities
Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
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225
XP
+100 France
= 325 total
1 day
Thouars and Oiron: The Dukes' Château, the Romanesque Portal and a Renaissance Gallery of Curiosities
225 + 100 XP
Thouars stands above the Thouet, crowned by the château begun in 1635 at the wish of Marie de La Tour d'Auvergne, wife of duke Henri III de La Trémoille, and the church of Saint-Médard keeps a Poitevin Romanesque west front carved with the Twelve Apostles and the Ascension, and a north door with a polylobed arch of Mozarabic architecture. About 11 km east, the Château d'Oiron of the Gouffier family holds the Galerie des Chevaux, 55 m long and 6.10 m wide, the largest surviving painted gallery in France after François I's at Fontainebleau, and since 1993 a contemporary collection, Curios & Mirabilia, built on the idea of the Renaissance cabinet of curiosities.
Required Activities
1
of 5
On the west front of Saint-Médard, pick out the Twelve Apostles, the Ascension of Christ and the symbols of immortality among the carving, then find the stretches that had to be re-cut in the restoration that ran to 1870 — fishmongers' stalls stood against this portal from the 16th century until 1866 and did it real damage — and go round to the north door for its polylobed Mozarabic arch
2
of 5
Go into the double chapel beside the château of the La Trémoille dukes, begun in 1503 by Gabrielle de Bourbon, and work out why it has two storeys: the lower chapel was built to house the parish of Notre-Dame after its own church fell into ruin
3
of 5
In the Galerie des Chevaux at Oiron, walk the 55 m of painted wall and find the Trojan Horse, the death of Hector and Paris beaten by Menelaus and carried off by Aphrodite — then work out why a master of the horse filled his gallery with horses, and see how the eleventh painting breaks out of Troy into the Aeneid
4
of 5
Work through Curios & Mirabilia at Oiron, the collection of 63 artists put together by Jean-Hubert Martin in 1993, and find three of its pieces: Christian Boltanski's portraits of the children of the Oiron village school, Felice Varini's corridor of illusions, and Claude Rutault's monochromes left standing in the King's chamber
5
of 5
In the church of Saint-Laon at Thouars, find the tomb of Margaret of Scotland, first wife of the future Louis XI, then walk the 12th- and 13th-century town wall to the Tour du Prince-de-Galles, which held the garrison's food stores and later salt smugglers
On the west front of Saint-Médard, pick out the Twelve Apostles, the Ascension of Christ and the symbols of immortality among the carving, then find the stretches that had to be re-cut in the restoration that ran to 1870 — fishmongers' stalls stood against this portal from the 16th century until 1866 and did it real damage — and go round to the north door for its polylobed Mozarabic arch
Go into the double chapel beside the château of the La Trémoille dukes, begun in 1503 by Gabrielle de Bourbon, and work out why it has two storeys: the lower chapel was built to house the parish of Notre-Dame after its own church fell into ruin
In the Galerie des Chevaux at Oiron, walk the 55 m of painted wall and find the Trojan Horse, the death of Hector and Paris beaten by Menelaus and carried off by Aphrodite — then work out why a master of the horse filled his gallery with horses, and see how the eleventh painting breaks out of Troy into the Aeneid
Work through Curios & Mirabilia at Oiron, the collection of 63 artists put together by Jean-Hubert Martin in 1993, and find three of its pieces: Christian Boltanski's portraits of the children of the Oiron village school, Felice Varini's corridor of illusions, and Claude Rutault's monochromes left standing in the King's chamber
In the church of Saint-Laon at Thouars, find the tomb of Margaret of Scotland, first wife of the future Louis XI, then walk the 12th- and 13th-century town wall to the Tour du Prince-de-Galles, which held the garrison's food stores and later salt smugglers
Before you go
The château of Thouars is a working secondary school and is not open to visitors; only the double chapel and the orangery in its grounds can be seen, and access to them is arranged through the town's heritage service. The Château d'Oiron is about 11 km east at Plaine-et-Vallées, is run by the state and has its own closing days and winter hours, so check before driving over. Oiron sits on no motorway route and the last stretch is small country road.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
225 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
325 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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