Château de Saint-Privat, Medieval castle in Vers-Pont-du-Gard, France.
The Château de Saint-Privat stands in Vers-Pont-du-Gard on the site of a Gallo-Roman villa, with remains of a 12th-century fort. Its pale stone square tower has a crenellated parapet on small arched corbels; beside it, a lower wing with a steep slate roof, a round window and rectangular windows with light stone surrounds. The 18th-century chapel is a separate small building, not inside the main structure.
The site originates from a 12th-century fortification that was later transformed. The Faret family owned the property for centuries and made substantial changes to its architecture.
In 1922 Jacques Rouché, director of the Paris Opera, asked his friend Georges Desvallières (1861–1950) to decorate the small 18th-century chapel. Desvallières painted oil on canvas marouflé, expressing his vision of the sacrifice of the First World War. The chapel is one of the estate's listed remarkable features.
The estate is private and was sold in 2018, so visits depend on the owners' arrangements rather than a standing public opening. The gardens, the 18th-century chapel and the Balauzière grotto are the three listed features of the domain; ask which of them can be seen before travelling.
A grotto on the grounds holds evidence of prehistoric human presence. This underground chamber preserves archaeological findings that reveal how people lived in the area thousands of years ago.
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