Blog Masonry
The cloister of the cathedral of Fréjus
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Monument
The Castle of If in Marseille
[img_assist|nid=41546|title=|desc=|link=none|align=middle|width=500|height=240] Monument Off the coast of Marseille lies the château d’If, better known for the legends attached to this picturesque site than for its military importance. The little island entered history with the arrival in 1515 of the first rhinoceros brought to Europe. The animal […]
The Abbey of Thoronet
The Abbey of Thoronet
Monument
The Thoronet abbey, a Cisterian monastery founded in 1146 by the Tourtour monks in a wild setting in the Var region, gathers its monastery buildings around a cloister which is protected by sturdy arcatures from the Romanesque period. Apart from the "palm tree" vault in the chapter house, the barrel vault predominates; its majestic volumes round out everywhere, from the church to the storeroom without forgetting the dormitory, which rose from the ruins brought about by the 18th century "improvements". The state purchased the abbey progressively from 1854 onwards and it recovered its original appearance thanks to important renovation works.
The Abbaye de Montmajour in Arles
The Abbaye de Montmajour in Arles
Monument
Above the plain to the northeast of Arles, the Saint-Peter abbey was founded on the "Mount Majour" (the big mountain) in 948. Until 1790, Benedictine monks lived there according to the rules of Saint Benedict of Nurcie.
Tour Saint-Nicolas in La Rochelle
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The Monument
The Castle of Oiron
[img_assist|nid=41544|title=|desc=|link=none|align=middle|width=400|height=300] The Monument The château of Oiron, in the South of Chinon and Saumur, should be as famous as the most beautiful châteaus of the Val de Loire. This construction, constantly transformed by the successive generations of the Gouffier family (from the Poitou region), is a […]
The Abbey of Charroux
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The Monument
The Castle of Pierrefonds
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The Monument
The castle of Coucy
[img_assist|nid=41507|title=|desc=|link=none|align=middle|width=424|height=283] The Monument The castle of Coucy’s ruins are situated on a promontory which dominates the Oise and the Ailette valleys, between the region of Soissons and the region of Laon. It was constructed at the beginning of the 13th century by Enguerrand of Coucy, […]