A year at the castle

A journey through Gers will inevitably lead you to Lavardens, castelnau * ranked among the most beautiful villages in France. Its castle, dominating and imposing by its architecture, radiates the whole region (well beyond the Gascon borders!), By its cultural influence.

Lavardens castle, beating heart of culture

This former residence of the Counts of Armagnac now houses the Center d'art en Gascogne chaired by Christophe Jankowiak and run with great enthusiasm and professionalism by Jérémie Martinez and his team of volunteers. Each year, after the harsh winter weather, the Château de Lavardens reopens its doors and unveils its annual program.

The Gdiscovery hikes and the little emotions of the year

• Perry taylor (the + Gascon of the British) presents its new collection of drawings "Planète Gascogne". With his humorous and mischievous illustrations, he lovingly sketches the life of Gers.

• until September 27 the art and craft exhibition " Fragments of Japan: between contemporary art and Traditions "

Note: the workshops., animations et events which should have punctuated this exhaustive exhibition will not take place in view of the exceptional year.

The welcomed artists unveil their treasures:

• the paintings, chalks and engravings by Kojiro Akagi knight of the Order of Arts and Letters and Rikizo Fukao and his red and black universe, by Sawako Ginno and Kiro Melo,
• the photos of Philippe Marinig and his geisha portraits,
• the lacquers by Yoshiaki Noguchi,
• la calligraphy by Taro Fukushika, and Marinka Ostriv,
• the ceramics as Rizu Takahashi (tea master), and Setsuko Nagasawa,
• the glassmakers Yuriko and Satoshi Okamoto as well as Michi Suzuki and his fantastics glass beads,
• the wood carvings by Akihiko Maeda and Junichi Hozono.

Also to be discovered during this exhibition of kimonos ancient and modern, from furniture and prints 18^nd  and 19^e centuries, Darumas .

• The “Musical Nights in Armagnac” give you 2 dates: October 24 for a musical tour of the castle, and December 22 for a concert “music and song of the Renaissance” Cosi fa l'Amor!

• From October 17, the Christmas atmosphere invades the castle with the exhibition "The Art of Santon" bringing together craftsmen and artists from various backgrounds and no less than 20 santons and nativity scenes. In December, the traditional gourmet rendezvous invites you to taste the 000 desserts.

Are you coming just for the place?

The large windows of the Château de Lavardens offer one of the most beautiful views of Gascony. With its eventful destiny, and the stigmata that time has left it, the castle also offers beautiful pages of history in the plural

You will be sure to be hoped for **!

If the facade of the castle and its two towers rising overhanging the corbel (or horns) seduce you, if the pavement of brick and local stone delights you, know that it took little for the monument is not destined for the sad fate of career.

Over the centuries, it is the love (that of Antoine de Roquelaure, close friend of King Henry IV, for his young wife Suzanne) and the passion of a few lovers (and a little crazy) of old stones that have saved the ruin castle. Listed as a Historic Monument in 1961, the castle owes its restoration in particular to artistic events. 

When the castle was a village

in the 19th century

The long vaulted gallery was the village street, and the current shop was nothing other than the classroom of the darlings of Lavardens! 

To plan your trip, every practical information about Château de Lavardens.

* Occitan word designating the villages formed around their castle. Often in a dominant position, they mostly have a circular shape, unlike bastides with a rectilinear organization.

** Expression courante régionale : surprendre fortement, épater, impressionner.

Aline

March 25th, 2020