The Château des Adhémar is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, later converted to a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

style

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

, in the French town of

Montélimar Montélimar (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Montelaimar'' ; la, Acumum) is a town in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in north Provence, Southeastern France. It is the second-largest city in the department after Valence. In 2018, ...

in the

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

. It is located on a hill in the centre of the town.

History

Its origins are found in the 11th century when the first

was built by the

Count of Toulouse The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de Toulouse) was the ruler of county of Toulouse, Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the kingdom of the Franks, Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ru ...

, the

Duke of Narbonne The title Duke of Narbonne (''dux Narbonensis'') was a title employed at various times by the overlords of Narbonne, while the direct power in the city was held by the viscounts. The prestige of the title probable attached to the fact that Narbonn ...

. Little of this remains. In the second half of the 12th century it became the property of the Adhémar de Monteil family, lords of Rochemaure, later lords of

Grignan Grignan (; oc, Grinhan) is a commune in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. It has a Renaissance castle and is mentioned in the letters that Madame de Sévigné wrote to her daughter, Madame de Gr ...

, then at the height of their power. The

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

they built substantially exists today. In the 14th century, it was taken by the

papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, joining the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

's castles until 1447, when

was returned to the kingdom of France. The site of many armed conflicts, especially during the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

, the castle suffered much damage and was transformed into a citadel, then back to a pleasant residence with the return of more peaceful times. In the 15th century it was used as a prison. In the middle of the 16th century, Louis Adhémar rebuilt in the

style. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, the castle was partially destroyed. The castle was a prison again between 1791 and 1926, a use which has meant that it remained practically intact.

Architecture

The château is considered to be one of the last examples of Romanesque castle architecture,http://www.jedecouvrelafrance.com/f-2002.drome-chateau-montelimar.html} having a fortified curtain wall, round walk,

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

, a house and chapel, combining social, family, political and religious life in one. Only the Narbonne tower is outside the first wall, some metres to the north. Of the original 12th-century residential buildings, only the palace remains. There are three large rectangular rooms reached through a monumental doorway. The spectacular decoration of the lodgings is concentrated on the first floor gallery, with no fewer than nine semicircular arches with sculptured columns. This series of windows extends the full length of the building. The keep has three floors. The austere architecture, with thick walls, reminds visitors of the castle's medieval origins. The castle has been listed as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, ...

since 1889.

Contemporary art

The property of the Département de la Drôme since 1947, the Adhémar’s castle is a ''monument historique'' and was a contemporary art centre from 2000 to 2017. This centre worked with artist projects linking both a high standard of proposals and a real firmly fixed territorial spot. A new Museum of Contemporary Art recently opened in former barracks in the north of the city centre. The aim of the centre of contemporary art through the three castles of the Drôme general council (Adhémar at Montélimar, Grignan, Suze-la-Rousse) is to match contemporary creation and cultural heritage. Since its creation, about a fifty temporary exhibitions has been performed with renowned national artists, even international and younger ones. Besides the contrast between medieval architecture and the various forms of present creation, the castle originality is expressed by the artists who have to keep in mind the important heritage of the place. Thus, each artist develops a strategy in their creation to emphasize, to refute, to express, to reveal or to conceal the powerful architectural presence of the Adhémar’s castle.

Exhibitions

* 2001 : André Morin,

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo to see his family and ...

Ange Leccia Ange Leccia (born 19 April 1952) is a contemporary French painter, photographer and film-maker. He works in Paris primarily with photography and video. Life and career Leccia was born in Minerbio, Barrettali commune, in Corsica, and studied fi ...

Laetitia Benat Laetitia may refer to: Mythology and religion * Laetitia (goddess), a minor Roman goddess of gaiety * One of the 16 geomantic figures, primary symbols used in divinatory geomancy Other uses * Laetitia (given name) * 39 Laetitia, an asteroid * ...

Nicolas Delprat Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

* 2002 :

Danielle Jacqui Danielle Jacqui, known as "Celle qui peint (The Painter)", is a French painter and sculptor, born 2 February 1934 in Nice. She lives in Roquevaire, Bouches-du-Rhône, France, where she is known for having entirely decorated her house. She founde ...

Daniel Buren Daniel Buren (born 25 March 1938, in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a French conceptual artist, painter, and sculptor. He has won numerous awards including the Golden Lion for best pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1986), the International Award for ...

Ivan Fayard Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

, Patrick Tosani * 2003 : Krijn de Koning,

Felice Varini Felice Varini (born in Locarno in 1952) is a Paris-based, Swiss artist who was nominated for the 2000/2001 Marcel Duchamp Prize. Mostly known for his geometric perspective-localized paintings in rooms and other spaces, using projector-stencil tec ...

, Jean-Luc Moulène, Damien Beguet * 2004 : Virginie Litzler, Alexandre Ovize, Nicolas Prache, Sarkis, Adam Adach,

Stéphane Calais Stéphane is a male French given name an equivalent of Stephen/Steven. Notable people with this given name include: * Stéphane Adam (born 1969), French footballer *Stéphane Agbre Dasse (born 1989), Burkinabé football player *Stéphane Allagnon, ...

* 2005 : Delphine Balley, Clare Langan, Christine Laquet, Stéphanie Nava,

Tadashi Kawamata Tadashi Kawamata ( ja, 川俣正 / born July 24, 1953) is a Japanese artist, born in Mikasa City on Hokkaido, who lives and works in Paris. Biography Born in Mikasa City on Hokkaido, Kawamata graduated from Hokkaido Iwamizawa Higashi High S ...

, Françoise Quardon, Pierre David * 2006 : Alina Abramov, Armand Jalut, Aurélie Pétrel, Bernhard Rüdiger, David Renaud, Philippe Durand * 2007 : Eoin Mc Hugh, Le Gentil Garçon, Marie-José Burki, Etienne Bossut * 2008 : Cécile Hesse, Gaël Romier, Sophie Lautru,

John Armleder John Armleder (born 1948, in Geneva) is a Swiss performance artist, painter, sculptor, critic, and curator. His work is based on his involvement with Fluxus in the 1960s and 1970s, when he created performance art pieces, installations and collecti ...

, Lilian Bourgeat, Christine Rebet * 2009 : Jean-Louis Elzéard, Magali Lefebvre, Sarah Duby,

Xavier Veilhan Xavier Veilhan (1963) is a French artist who works with photography, sculpture, film, painting and installation art. Life and career Xavier Veilhan graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Xavier Veilhan ...

, Jean-François Gavoty,

Loris Cecchini Loris Cecchini (born 1969) is an Italian contemporary artist. He works in various media, among them sculpture, installation and photography. In 2014 he won the annual Premio Arnaldo Pomodoro per la Scultura awarded by the Fondazione Arnaldo Pom ...

, Yvan Salomone, Delphine Gigoux-Martin, Gilles Grand, Benjamin Seror * 2010 : Julien Prévieux, Pierre Malphettes, Delphine Balley, Yan Pei Ming * 2011 : Victoria Klotz,

Ann Veronica Janssens Ann Veronica Janssens is a Belgian contemporary visual artist born in 1956 in Folkestone, United Kingdom. She lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. Her work is an invitation to ephemeral experiences, which are at times delirious or vertiginou ...

, Betty Bui, Eric Rondepierre * 2012 : Guillaume Bardet,

Olga Kisseleva ''Olga Kisseleva'' is a French artist. Olga Kisseleva works mainly in installation, science and media art. Her work employs various media, including video, immersive virtual reality, the Web, wireless technology, performance, large-scale art inst ...

, Emmanuel Régent, Marie Hendriks * 2013 : Mehdi Meddaci,

Guillaume Bijl Guillaume Bijl (born 1946 in Antwerp) is a Belgian conceptual and an installation artist. He lives and works in Antwerp. Early life and education Bijl was born in 1946 to a working-class family in Antwerp. The artist's father worked at the loc ...

Mat Collishaw Matthew "Mat" Collishaw Hon. FRPS (born 6 January 1966) is an English artist based in London. Collishaw's work uses photography and video. His best known work is ''Bullet Hole'' (1988), which is a closeup photo of what appears to be a bull ...

, Glenda León

References

External links