Timeline

Heritage classified

Origin and history

The Garlande pigeon house, located in Gonesse in Val-d'Oise, is a historical monument built between the 14th and 15th centuries. This agricultural building is distinguished by its two-room structure and its apiary with 1658 rectangular bolts. Its impressive dimensions (total height of 980 cm, 250 cm high and 840 cm in diameter) make it a remarkable example of medieval utility architecture. Attested at the end of the eighteenth century, it is today the only remaining vestige of a farm mentioned since the twelfth century under the name Miville, then property of Garlande.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a building was added to close the courtyard to the east, but the dovecote retained its integrity. Ranked Historic Monument by decree of 28 April 1980, it illustrates the economic importance of dovecotes in seigneurial or agricultural fields. These structures served not only to raise pigeons for their meat and manure (precious fertilizer), but also to assert a social status, their construction being often reserved for lords or prosperous farms.

The site, now owned by a private company, bears witness to the agricultural transformations of the region. Its listing in the inventory of Historic Monuments highlights its heritage value, both for its architecture and for its role in the rural history of Île-de-France. The accuracy of its location, assessed as satisfactory (note 7/10), makes it possible to locate its location near Rue de la Fontaine-Saint-Nicolas, although its access to the public is not documented.

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