Haras national de Blois, Horse stud farm and historic monument in Blois, France.
The Haras national de Blois is a former national stallion depot at 62 avenue Maunoury, built 1878–1880 by architect Jules de La Morandière on a 2-hectare site. Its pale cream single-storey facade has striped rustication, a steep grey hipped roof with a central gabled clock section, and round medallions; the entrance pavilions bear percheron heads. It held 4 stables, 84 stalls and 2 pavilions of 18 boxes.
A first stud depot was created in Blois by Napoleon I's 1806 decree and housed in the former Carmelite convent on Rue du Sermon. Judged too cramped after the 1870 war, it was replaced by the present buildings, built 1878–1880 to designs by Jules de La Morandière on a 2-hectare site. The depot peaked in 1913 with 122 stallions, was listed as a monument historique in 1992, and closed in 2006.
The entrance pavilions flanking the park gate carry medallions with a Percheron horse's head, a nod to the breeds once stabled here. The site was open to the public from 1995 to 2005, when guided tours, historical shows and festivals were held. The last horses left after the 2006 closure, mostly transferred to the Amboise stud.
The site at 62 avenue Maunoury is closed to the public: the stallion depot was shut in 2006 and sold to a private investor in 2014. The buildings, inscribed as monuments historiques since 27 February 1992, can therefore only be seen from the street. The entrance pavilions flanking the park gate carry percheron heads in medallions.
The entrance pavilions flanking the park gate carry medallions with a percheron horse's head, a detail easy to miss. The site was planned for up to 120 half-blood Norman, Vendéen or Percheron stallions, housed in 4 stables, 84 stalls and 2 pavilions of 18 boxes.
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