Here's the link, and I attached the article down below:
http://takeoffsetsail.com/.../the-story-of-ferdinand.../
France is a surprisingly diverse country. The architecture, history, food, and even language varies depending on what part of the country you are in. It even has a wide natural diversity for such a small country (smaller than the state of Texas), with the landscape varying from the cold and mostly flat north, the rainy Atlantic seaboard to the west, to the rolling hills further inland, the majestic Pyrenees of the southwest, the rugged, towering snow-capped mountains of the Alps in the southeast, and finally to the sunny beaches in port cities along the Mediterranean. It is a country with a tremendous amount to explore on many levels, and yet there are some things within it that are so unique, that they stand on their own. One such place is a makeshift palace built solely by one man.
Ferdinand Cheval delivered mail in a rural community in southeastern France, with a commute that had him traversing by foot over some very rugged and challenging terrain in a mountainous region of France. For over a decade, he traveled this route in solitude, although he had his own thoughts and dreams to keep him company. Perhaps it was fate that he delivered mail, as he was ultimately inspired by some of the images of exotic places, temples, and palaces from faraway lands that he encountered. For many, seeing images like that might have been enough only for an appreciative nod. For others, it might have piqued their curiosity and triggered a strong desire to travel to distant locales to explore unknown landscapes and cultures on their own. For the Facteur Cheval, as he was known (which roughly translated from French means Postman Cheval), it inspired a dream that started quite by accident, but which would ultimately result in his constructing something that stands out as truly exotic. It has now even attained the status of a national monument in France. In time, what he built has become a well-known landmark within France, and has become the pride of the community of Hauterives that Cheval built it in.
By his own admission, Cheval was not an architect or a sculptor, and he had never studied architecture or even picked up tools to sculpt or build. In fact, he was neither well-educated nor well-traveled. Yet, he ended up devoting 33 years of his life towards building the physical representation of his dream, which he called Le Palais idéal. What drove him was his passion and commitment, and he worked on his dream every evening after work, often by oil lamp.
It all started with a dream that he had, which could almost be termed as an obsession. It was an image in his mind of an amazing castle or palace that took inspiration from the pictures that Cheval has seen of numerous corners of the world. He dreamed of building such a place. This palace stayed on his mind for a while, but he began to forget about it over the course of many years.
The story might have ended right there, with his dreams of a spectacular palace ultimately dying with him. But as fate would have it, one day in 1879, his dream came storming back to him after he accidentally tripped on a stone. Picking it up, he was fascinated by the odd shape of the stone, and began contemplating it. He decided to gather these particular kinds of stones, which often added many miles to his already arduous daily trek in delivering mail. He brought the stones home, and would work on them and add them to his dream castle. He would sculpt them and then, using mortar, would add them to his ever-growing structure.
Little by little, the physical manifestation of that dream began to bear fruit. He started with the outer walls, which took two decades to complete. He completed the interior and decorations of it well over a decade later. It took 33 years - fully one-third of a century, to complete his unique masterpiece. It did not follow any particular artistic or architectural movement or school of thought. Just one man, and his passion, dedication, and perseverance to fulfill a dream. To convert it into a reality.
Describing it as a castle is actually quite limiting. What he built looked quite different depending on what angle you were seeing it from. At varying points, this Palais idéal, as Cheval called it, resembled some architectural splendors from around the world. Parts of it resembled some dreamy European castles, while other parts more closely resembled ancient Egyptian temples complete with pillars reminiscent of those from that era. It also was influenced by Roman and Aztec architecture. Parts of it even resembled a smaller version of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. There is even a winding staircase. Overall, his palace is 26 meters (roughly 85 feet) wide, and stands at an impressive 10 meters (30 feet) high.
Inside of his palace, Cheval added numerous inscriptions and mottos. The most telling one reveals just how much he put into his creation. It reads: "1879 -1912: 10,000 days, 93,000 hours and 33 years of toil." Cheval wanted to be buried in his incredible creation, but this was forbidden by law. So, he went to work again, building his own, unique vault in a local cemetery. This is where he was buried when he died in 1924.
Of course, most in his community were initially dismissive while he was working on his dream palace. Not surprisingly, he was viewed as crazy by the locals, although his project eventually gained attention. Among those who took notice were other artists, including Picasso and surrealist André Breton. 45 years after Cheval's death, André Malraux, France's Minister for Cultural Affairs, designated Le Palais idéal as a Historical Monument, citing it as an example of Naive architecture. In the 1980's, two things happened that would significantly impact this place. The first was that Alice, one of Cheval's granddaughters, and who herself had no children, decided to give her share to the community of Hauterives. Secondly, there was a movement to restore the Palais idéal and gardens. Now, it has become a unique tourist attraction. In 2013, over 150,000 came to visit the physical manifestation of Cheval's dream. Cheval was honored further when France placed his image on a postage stamp, fittingly enough. It could be said that the Facteur Cheval had come full circle.
By Charles Bordeau
Sources:
Ferdinand Cheval known as Postman Cheval (from 1836 to 1924)
Le Palais idéal du facteur Ferdinand Cheval à Hauterives en France:
Sep 15, 2011 Postman Spends 33 Years Building Palace by Hand [25 pics]:
Eyewitness Travel Guides: France, A DK Publishing Book, 1999 - p. 373
Photo courtest of Xavier Devroey Flickr Page - Palais_facteur_Cheval_5/ Creative Commons License - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
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