Château d'Abbadie

The Abbadie Castle is surrounded by a spacious park, in the French town of Hendaye, in the department of Pyrénées- Atlantiques. Received the name it by its owner, the French cartographer and world traveler Antoine d' Abbadie Thomson.

History

As Antoine Thomson d' Abbadie decided in 1860 to seek a palace built as a mansion, he chose as the place of construction land Aragorry at Hendaye. As an architect he commissioned Eugène Viollet -le- Duc, who presented the practical implementation of his assistant Edmond Duthoit. Of all the works of Viollet- le -Duc Abbadie Castle is special, since it is this was a completely new construction and not a ruin- reconstruction. Construction began in 1864 and were completed in 1879.

Abbadie donated his castle in 1895 with the inventory and the corresponding lands of the French Academy of Sciences, of which he was a member.

Specifications

Appearance

The neo-Gothic exterior of the castle with the main tower, various multiple towers and battlements is clearly inspired by medieval forms. But the interests of the client itself found in the architecture of their precipitation. Thus, for example, to find a lot of in - and inscriptions in various languages ​​such as Irish, Basque, Arabic, Ethiopian and German.

Interiors

The interior decoration is strongly characterized by Viollet- le -Duc way to use many shades.

Chapel

The chapel has a simple structure, but with exceptionally rich decoration. It is spacious, as they used to all farmers in the domain Abbadia had to accommodate. Your altar is at the east end of the choir and is surrounded by three stained-glass windows. The middle one shows Christ flanked by the Church Fathers, Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo in the other two windows.

The western end of the chancel is decorated with frescoes depicting the hermit Paul of Thebes and St. Anthony the Great in the desert. In the middle of the chapel, there is a gallery as a connection to the master bedroom of the castle owner and his wife Virginie, whose common grave is located in a narrow crypt under the altar.

Guest bedroom

This bedroom, with furniture designed by Duthoit was reserved for traveling guests. Its wood paneling on the walls is decorated with Arabic inscriptions. His canopy bed bears the Latin inscription " Sweet sleep, golden dreams for anyone, who rests herein, a happiness full awakening, an excellent morning ."

Dining room

The walls of the dining room are covered with buffalo leather. As in the guest bedroom the furniture is designed by Edmond Duthoit; including a table with inlay work and a pantry that served specially for the storage of banquet porcelain. For furniture includes 18 chairs, their coverings ever wear an embroidered Ethiopian letters. In a number next to each other, they form the phrase " May you never find a traitor to this table."

Lounge

The lounge is a circular space and is located in the south tower. Your walls are painted blue and have the patch, golden monograms A and V ( for Antoine and Virginie ) in Gothic script. The room is furnished with furnishings that had brought Antoine d' Abbadie from his expeditions and a world exhibition. A stone fireplace panel shows the inscription "More reality than meets the eye ".

At the lounge close to a boudoir in the Moorish style, and an Arab smoking-room.

Main staircase

The large main staircase connects the ground floor with the upper rooms. The staircase is lit by a window with stained glass panels. A Latin inscription welcomes visitors: "Welcome to the one who enters under this roof ... ". At the top of the stairs there is a wooden statue of Abdullah, a young Ethiopian slave who had been freed by the lord of the castle and taken to France and tragically during the Paris Commune was killed. Frescoes on the walls of the stairwell show scenes of daily life in Ethiopia.

Bedroom

The room has paneled walls and one window to the north ( towards the ocean ), and to the south ( with mountain views ). Equipped is the bedroom with a black marbled fireplace, surmounted by a large gilt mirror is mounted. On both sides of the fireplace hang portraits of Antoine d' Abbadie and his wife Virginie. The room has a direct link to the gallery in the chapel.

Library

World Traveler Abbadie used the library as a workplace. The space has on its two longitudinal sides on which the personal collection of Antoine d' Abbadies is kept ever a small gallery. The shelves on the ground floor contain astronomical publications of the former observatory.

The ceiling beams add some Basque phrases, such as "It only takes a fool to throw a stone into the well, but six wise men, back to pick him up ."

Observatory

In the castle's own observatory in 1880 installed Meridian telescope is still to be seen. It served mainly to find out the exact position of stars to ultimately allow the publication of sky data in different catalogs. The necessary work was completed only in 1975.

Antoine d' Abbadie wanted to study with the telescope, the refraction and left several times to break through the castle walls near the main gate to observe the summit of La Rhunc (905 m) can. However, this project was not successful, and therefore scratched Abbadie over the hole last made ​​the Basque words "I saw nothing, I got nothing. " One.

Jerusalem - bedroom

This room takes its name from a precise map of the "Holy Jerusalem ". She is over the fireplace with the Latin inscription "Your thoughts go in the same way as the flame in the height" attached. The walls of the room show scenes of the Passion and symbols of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

Imperial Bedroom

Emperor Napoléon III. should indicate a symbolic, last stone setting, the completion of works at the castle. Specially a very ornate and opulent decorated room was set up for his night. But by the defeat at the Battle of Sedan during the Franco-German war was Napoleon III. no longer take this symbolic act, since he was taken by Prussian troops to Kassel and placed in the Castle Wilhelm height under arrest.

The imperial bedroom is decorated with finely crafted furniture made ​​of black oak in the late neo-gothic style. Above the bed, which is richly decorated with fantastic animals such as dragons and with owls, is written in Latin: " travelers enjoy a tranquil break in a hospitable house." The upper part of an impressive fireplace consists of a stone carving that represents Anthony the Great, Patron Saint Antoine d' Abbadies.