Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Pyramid des Chartreux is part of a set of four stone monuments built in the 1770s along the Georges d'Amboise forest road in the forest of Loches (Indre-et-Loire). These pyramids served as rallying points for hunting crews, a common aristocratic practice under the Old Regime. Unlike the three other pyramids (Saint-Quentin, Genillé, Montaigu), built on a square plane, the Chartreux is distinguished by its hexagonal base and its decorative corbellations. Its depreciation, probably a sphere, disappeared before its inscription to historical monuments in 1956.

The construction of these pyramids is part of a broader policy of signalling the state forests, inspired by Colbert's recommendations in 1699. The Grand Master of the Waters and Forests Cabanel d'Anglure supervised their construction after the opening of the Georges d'Amboise road in 1769. The Pyramid des Chartreux, located near the Chartreuse du Liget, owes its name to this proximity. Its unique décor and hexagonal shape make it a remarkable testimony to the utilitarian and symbolic architecture of the eighteenth century.

Ranked as a historic monument in 1956, the Pyramid des Chartreux illustrates the ingenuity of royal forest developments, designed to combine functionality (forest mapping) and aesthetics (ground decorations, sommital spheres). Its present state, with a reconstituted sphere, reflects the efforts to preserve a heritage linked to both hunting, forestry and the local history of the Touraine. The four pyramids, aligned for nearly 5 km, form a coherent set, although each has distinct architectural features.

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