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Origin and history

Bergeresse's monastic farmhouse, located in Azay-sur-Indre in Indre-et-Loire, was an agricultural dependency of the Chartreuse du Liget. Acquired in 1274 by the Chartreux monks with Philippe de Bergeresse, it became a monastic fief operated until the Revolution. The first buildings, attested to in the 14th century, were thoroughly renovated in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the addition of a hexagonal turret, a chapel decorated with religious frescoes, and an extension of the main house.

The estate, organized as a Cistercian barn, included a trapezoidal wall, agricultural outbuildings, and a chapel decorated with 16th century murals (saint Christophe, Virgin of the Annunciation). Seized as a national property in 1789, the site will house smugglers and resistors during the Second World War, with its attic serving as an observation post near the demarcation line. Partially classified as Historic Monuments in 1949, the estate remains a private property not open to the public.

The architecture of the main house, 24 meters long, reveals rare arrangements for a medieval farm: integrated latrines, exterior wooden gallery, and foothills shouldering the walls. The 16th century staircase turret, built to replace a foothill, and the frescoes of the chapel – rediscovered in 1949 – bear witness to the spiritual and economic importance of the estate. The monks managed five dependent farmhouses there, cultivating the lands of the Tourangelle Field.

After the Revolution, the house was divided into two properties in 1825, altering its original structure. The most remarkable remains – the broken arch gate, the polygonal tower, and the frescoes – today illustrate the heritage of the Chartreux in Touraine. The site, although protected, retains an agricultural vocation, in a preserved landscape 2 km from the village of Azay-sur-Indre.

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