At the Monastère in the heart of the Loire

Sogni d'oroAt the Monastère in the heart of the Loire
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Otto dogfriendlyThe Monastère de la Corroirie can be reached by following the path that leads to the complex which over time had the dual function of a fortified castle and a monastery belonging to the Carthusian order. At the last solitary bend, between the dense vegetation and the ponds peeking out from the branches and leaves of the trees, this oasis of peace appears on the road between Loches, the royal citadel a jewel of Renaissance military architecture, and Montresor, one of the most beautiful villages in France.

At the Château Monastère de la Corroirie

Monastère

Approaching and leaving the paved road behind you, you are enveloped in a surreal silence that allows you to dive into the past, into a now forgotten world of peace and serenity.

Monastère

The countryside around the Château Monastère de la Corroirie is a dream, amidst the quiet where the monks led their spartan life between prayer and agricultural work.
The term Corroirie in fact seems to derive from Conredium or Conredia, which indicates a place of life for the Carthusian friars. The Château Monastère is a place of ancient memory in the heart of the Loire between Tours and Blois.

The estate included 1500 hectares of which 900 of land, 550 of woods, 50 of ponds, 15 of vineyards and 13 of meadows, in which there were about twenty small farms. The church was built at the beginning of the thirteenth century but with the renovations of the fifteenth century the entrance was modified, which is the one from which you currently enter.
Today it can be visited, as well as the entire Monastère complex which emerges in a 150-hectare park. The current owners, Countess Guy de Mareüil and her son Jeff, have converted it into a hôtel de charme with five rooms, each one different from the other, open to hospitality: where pilgrims once stayed, today travelers stop to discover the Loire.

The walls, with the warm color of the earth, still give off a wonderful feeling of energy and protection, while the interiors, in which the furnishings combine family pieces with more contemporary ones, light up with the deep colors of cardinal red, blue, purple and yellow ocher, to sculpt the volume of the severe architecture in which the oldest traces emerge here and there.

Everything contributes to creating a magic of peace that we enjoyed together with our Otto in the Cardinale, a large and bright room that is said to have hosted Richelieu who came to visit the Monastère to meet his Carthusian monk brother and also to escape the Parisian turmoil.
The other four rooms take their name from their atmosphere: medieval for the Seigneuriale, sober and elegant for the Monacale, contemporary for the Moniale and romantic for the Pastorale.

We would have liked to hear the history and stories of the Château Monastère de la Corroirie directly from Jeff de Mareüil, but language represented an insurmountable obstacle so we relied on what we read in the book we found in the room and on our research on Internet.

The long life of this castle-monastery, which was also a mill in the 11th century, is truly fascinating and there are many characters who probably passed through here. In addition to the aforementioned Richelieu, it is said that Joan of Arc also stopped during her journey between Vaucouleurs and Chinon. Documents attest that the nearby Charterhouse of Liget was founded in 1178 by Henry II Plantagenet, while the church of la Corroirie was consecrated in the presence of King John Landless of England in 1223.

Subsequently in the fifteenth century the Carthusians, protected by the Pope and the Royals, obtained from Charles VII a garrison to defend the Monastère from external attacks and an underground passage was even built to allow the evacuation of the Corroirie and to make the whole area more accessible in case of attack on the Certosa. A royal court of justice was also located at the Château Monastère de la Corroirie and there are reports of the execution of two witches in the 15th century.
During the wars of religion the monks suffered many attacks and the Corroirie was heavily damaged, but the definitive abandonment came with the French Revolution when their assets were expropriated.

Monastère

The estate was first transformed into a farm building and then purchased in 1899 by the René de Marsay, son of the owner of the Certosa Arthur de Marsay. In 1919 it passed to his nephew Henry de Marsay who bequeathed it in 1972 to his daughter, the Countess Guy de Mareüil, who is still the owner today.

Being guests of the countess and Jeff de Mareüil allowed us to enjoy this timeless refuge to regenerate and face the rest of our long on the road in France as well as to discover, alongside the magnificent and most famous castles, also villages and chateaux “minors” who have given us immense emotions.

Château Monastère de la Corroirie
Route de Loches (RD 760), Chemillé-sur- Indrois – France
Info: +33 06 80 433875 – contact@corroirie.com
www.corroirie.com

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Rosalia
Rosalia
This travel blog with the dog is a personal selection of our best experiences, our favorite spots and secrets places around the world curated by Rosalia e Michele.

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