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Château de Rochechouart

Coordinates: 45°49′17″N 0°49′9″E / 45.82139°N 0.81917°E / 45.82139; 0.81917
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Château de Rochechouart

Château de Rochechouart is a thirteenth-century French castle, located at the top of the confluence of the Grêne and Vayres rivers in the commune of Rochechouart within the département of Haute-Vienne.

Background

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The Viscounts of Rochechouart reigned for 800 years in the castle.

Today

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At the beginning of the 1980s, the rooms of the castle serve as a setting for various events, one of the most prestigious of which is the exhibition "Hugo and the France of his time" organized, with the participation of the most eminent hugophiles (Luc Bérimont, Henri Guillemin, René Journet, Pierre Seghers...), by the Rochechouart Artistic and Literary Center directed by Raymond Leclerc.[1]

Nowadays the castle houses the subprefecture buildings, and since 1985 the museum of contemporary art where one can admire the works of Dadaist artist, Raoul Hausmann, and works of international artists from the 1960s to today, such as Giuseppe Penone, Arte Povera, Christian Boltanski or Tony Cragg.

It is also possible to visit the hunting room where multicoloured frescos from the beginning of sixteenth century are displayed, and the Hercules room decorated with murals in grisaille from the mid-sixteenth century. In the main courtyard one can admire the gallery supported by twisted columns.

Château de Rochechouart is listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The legend of Hugo's century", Jean-Pierre Thiollet, Le Quotidien de Paris , 11 August 1982.
  2. ^ Base Mérimée: Château, actuellement musée départemental d'art contemporain et sous-préfecture de Rochechouart, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
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45°49′17″N 0°49′9″E / 45.82139°N 0.81917°E / 45.82139; 0.81917