The beautiful Haute-Vienne town of Rochechouart is home to the Chateau de Rochechouart. This château is now home to the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Haute-Vienne; and it is a fabulous mix of old and new.
Château means castle in french (it can also refer to palaces, manor houses, or mansions). There are castles everywhere in France, with many remaining as private residences, but others being turned into hotels. Others have been turned into attractions or restored for as national monuments. Due to this inherent historic value, and the huge maintenance costs of buildings this large, castles are often passed over to the state and transformed into cultural endeavours.
Rochechouart is only 40 minutes drive from Limoges, in the south-west of France
Contemporary art at a Château
The Chateau de Rochechouart is built on the site of a crater made from a meteorite that landed on earth over 200 million years ago. If that’s not an illustrious start, I don’t know what is. While there have been several iterations and upgrades to castles on this site, the current building is from the 13th-15th centuries. This makes the juxtaposition of old and new both fascinating and, at times, jarring. What you expect to see inside the 15th century château is not always what you get. For those who are less enthralled by the prospect of a château full of modern art, there are also 16th century frescoes to enjoy too.
Temporary exhibitions
I’m a fan of modern art – specifically the pop-art and minimalism of the 1960s. Lucky for me, the special exhibition at the museum at Château de Rochechouart when we visited was Raoul Hausmann; a spearhead of the Berlin Dada-is movement in the early 20th century. While Hausmann’s random Dada scrawling and avant-garde videos might not be everyone’s cup of tea, they have an important place in the modern art timeline.
Musée Rochechouart collections
The Chateau de Rochechouart also holds a permanent collection of contemporary art, which helps to fill out the massive galleries on rotation. There are 3 floors of galleries – some of which are immersive, some minimalist. It’s not unusual to find only one artwork in a room, which certainly gives space for perspective.
Chateau de Rochechouart gardens
The gardens and courtyard of the château provide more space to exhibit art, and offer a lovely space in which to relax also.
The museum is open from March through to mid-December
Frescoes
There are two rooms where the more traditional side of the château is revealed – the two rooms of beautiful 16th century frescoes. Both are on the 1st floor – which would’ve been the floor reserved for the Lord of the manor. One room depicts the hunters in the grounds of the castle, and is in the coloured style. The other is the long apartment room overlooking both the courtyard and town; and is in the grisaille style (black, white and grey).
Where to stay in Rochechouart
The most central option in Rochechouart is the Logis Hôtel de France, right on the town square. For a guest-house option, try Chez Nous, to get that touch of home while you travel.
Limoges is the nearest big city and can be reached in 3-4 hours from Paris by train
Chateau de Rochechouart : where old meets new
One of the many things I love about France is the way that public access to art and culture isn’t preserved only for those in big cities. And there are galleries like this one in the countryside all over France. The Museum of Contemporary Art of the Haute-Vienne in the Château de Rochechouart is a welcome use of such a beautiful building. Albeit an avant-garde choice to mix the old and new in such a way. Which, if I’m honest, is half the reason I love it.
I love indulging in a bit of museum-visiting in between our foodie adventures and road trips – how about you?
All photos & content © Hannah Henderson and may not be used without permission (sharing this blog post is fine, though!). Images shot with a Canon DSLR T3i Rebel + Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM; and an iPhoneX.
This is so pretty! I’ve never visited a chateau but now i would love to!
this chateau looks beautiful. I’ve never been to France but love to read about different areas in the world. Thanks for sharing your experience here.
I would not have expected contemporary art in a Chateau! That is neat that there were frescos inside Chateau de Rochechouart. I like how they mixed the old with the new. The gardens looks gorgeous as well.
Yes, it was an unexpected delight!
It’s so nice that there are places like this all over France and that these buildings are well maintained and have been renovated for new purposes! A beautiful building inside and out
This looks like such a unique place! i am a history buff and loves to visit places which are old and have an interesting perspective attached to it. thanks for the great post!