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Château du Tertre (also on town of Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême) dans l'Orne

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine défensif
Demeure seigneuriale
Château
Orne

Château du Tertre (also on town of Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême)

    148 Le Tertre
    61130 Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Château du Tertre à Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême
Crédit photo : Unozoe - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
vers 1620
Initial construction
1678
Date engraved
vers 1800
Removal of the park
1925-1958
Residence of Martin du Gard
16 mai 1979
MH classification
11 juin 2014
Label « Maisons des illustrés »
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

"Façades and roofs of the castle (Box B 66): classification by decree of 16 May 1979 - Façades and roofs of the communes, namely: in the courtyard of honour, the pavilion at the northeast corner; in the courtyard of the communes, the orangery, the guard house dated 1678 and the building of the former stables called "La Grande Castille"; entrance grid and its pillars (see Box B 66, lieudit Le Tertre): registration by decree of 5 February 1997 Park with all its landscape developments including: the two avenues of access; vegetable and fruit gardens; All the aisles; the terrace lined with lime trees; the entire factories: the temple of the philosopher and the turret; the dry river and its brick bridge; the spring and the ark that overlooks it with its three rocks; sacred wood; the pond and the hydraulic ram; the "beard plate" and its semicircular wall topped with Medici vases; sundial and urn; statues: "Flore", "Diane", Sanglier (cad. Sérigny B 68, 69, 73, 74, placed Le Tertre, 71, placed La Grouas, 72, 94, placed Château du Tertre; ZM 3, placed La Vallée; ZN 3, placed Le Tertre; Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême B 74, placed Grouas des Peignées, 180, placed Le Sablon ) : classification by order of 3 March 1997"

Key figures

Gilles Bry de La Clergerie - Sponsor President of the Paris Parliament, builder.
André-Joseph Abrial - Owner and designer Expands the castle under the Empire.
Roger Martin du Gard - Resident writer Nobel Prize laureate lived and wrote there.
Hélène Foucault - Wife of Martin du Gard Heir of the castle by his family.
Pierre Tual - Contemporary sculptor Author of *La Table du Poet* (1984).
Marc Vellay - Sculptor Author of *Sapho* (2003) and *La femme qui marche sur l ́eau* (2010).

Origin and history

The Château du Tertre is a Louis XIII style gentilhommière built in the first half of the 17th century at the initiative of Gilles Bry de La Clergerie (circa 1560-1659), President of the Paris Parliament and historian of Perche. Located mainly on the former commune of Sérigny (now Belforêt-en-Perche) and partly on Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Bellême, it was enlarged under the Empire by Count André-Joseph Abrial. Its park, built in the 17th century and remodeled in an English garden around 1800, incorporates Masonic elements and perspectives opened by Roger Martin du Gard in the 20th century.

Roger Martin du Gard (1881-1958), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, discovered the castle in 1906 via his future wife, Hélène Foucault. He lived there from 1925 to 1958, receiving major figures from the NRF such as André Gide, André Malraux and Albert Camus. The castle, partially classified as historical monuments, still houses its library and working room, preserved intact. Its 9-hectare park, labeled "Remarkable Garden", mixes floor, wooded massifs, factories (like the Temple of the Philosopher) and statues, including a Diane huntress and contemporary works.

The estate was also a literary inspiration: Martin du Gard described it in The Lieutenant-Colonel of Maumort (uncompleted). In 2014, the castle received the label "Maisons des illustrieux", highlighting its role in French cultural history. Today, private property, it is visited by appointment for interior, while the park remains freely accessible. The Association of Friends of the Tertre, founded in 1996, continues its cultural vocation, in accordance with the wishes of the writer.

Architecturally, the castle consists of a long body of brick and stone houses, bounded with turrets in corbellation, with a dardoise roof. The square courtyard, flanked by 17th century pavilions, houses a contemporary sculpture (The Poet's Table, 1984). On the park side, a 19th century terrace serves the ground floor rooms. The protections for historical monuments cover the facades, the communes (orangerie, stables, guard house dated 1678), as well as the entire park and its facilities (statues, factories, pond, hydraulic ram).

External links