France's Castles - Focus on their Parks and Gardens

Extract

[...] Some castles have ornamental moats. The Renaissance Garden is a garden for strolling through, where you can appreciate the first plans: enclosed, isolated spaces with limited views and no hierarchy of flowerbeds or paths. A regular garden has one or more axes of composition or symmetry. Plots are aligned. A château has a forecourt, a lower courtyard and a main courtyard. The kitchen garden is located close to the garden and integrated into the geometric grid. The labyrinth is a concept coined during the Renaissance by the landscape gardener Le Notre. [...]

[...] France's Castles - Focus on their Parks and Gardens The garden is both an in situ and an out-of-sight landscape. It allows us to perceive the distant landscape beyond the boundaries of the plot. Its integration into the landscape makes it seem larger. Parks and gardens became part of France's heritage in the 1980s. This recognition came late in the day, as France has a historic signature in terms of parks and gardens: the French garden. France is a country of châteaux. [...]

[...] Each element often has a dual function: formal and functional. For example, water troughs can be fitted with a ramp to enable horses to get down and wash themselves. A water mirror can also serve as a water source for a washhouse. The irregular garden of the 19th century At the end of the 18th century, the regular French garden was called into question. People wanted to get away from monotony and sought more natural gardens. Irregularity was introduced into the art of gardening. [...]

[...] What needs to be restored? A private garden is enclosed, but when it is recognized, it becomes public and therefore open: it is then threatened by over-frequentation. Is the desire to preserve them a factor in their deterioration? Tourist and recreational sites The first tourist guide to parks and gardens appeared in 1979, but they really took off in the 1990s. They show a diversity of gardens. The aim is threefold: Encourage the opening of new sites. Improve site management. Develop the tourist economy. [...]

[...] It's a landscape reserved for the elite: farms and vegetable gardens are hidden . and a socio-spatial segregation is put in place. This change was perceptible from the early 19th century onwards, with the appearance of English gardens. The picturesque garden becomes a succession of scenes. It is an intellectual, learned garden (cultural, historical references, etc.). It marks a break with domesticated nature. An attempt is made to stage nature. Details deliver messages. Settings appear and disappear. This trend lasted only about thirty years, before being dethroned by the landscaped park. [...]