“Gotta see the color of this wave flowing and flowing incessantly. Just so is the glory of the world fleeing; nothing but God is eternal”.
To visit this place, I had to make a long trip to France, but it was worth it, given the beauty and unique history.
The deteriorating state of the building is very advanced, but still retains a charm and a ‘surprising grandeur. Its halls contain rich decorations, paintings, famous quotes engraved in wood and precious marbles.
The mahogany corridor, the nobles rooms and the throne room are the heart of the home and the only completed parts.
The madness has always been the best friend of someone who has left his mark in the past.
This is the story of two brothers (a business man and a self-taught architect) that in 1924, thanks to the generosity of their uncle, receive a large inheritance and buy an old ghotic revival style castle.
This castle becomes their crazy dream and they decided to change it and extend it by following the model of Versailles.
In 1939 undertook the extension of the structure with the construction of a long Italian Renaissance facade of over 220 meters long and 15 high inspired by an important Roman palace, whose works go on for years with twenty workers employed, but stops in 1970 for lack of money.
All parts of this castle are furnished and decorated with sumptuous furniture, Italian paintings, sculpture collections and even painted Portuguese tiles.
The two brothers brought from their travels a multitude of foreign works, paintings, marble, wood panels, statues, chandeliers and a myriad of treasures. They were “in competion with versailles“. They also decided to create a library that housed a collection of over 2,000 rare and ancient volumes.
The brothers never saw completed their palace and the dream for which they worked most of their lives came true only in part, leaving them with piles of debt and an incomplete castle.
They died respectively in 1983 and 1986, but their heir will have to sell the collection to fix the debt at an auction in 1988.
They did bury, or rather, walled inside the walls of Renaissance facade.
Then, after the sale, they caome the darkest days for this colossal mansion that was left to slowly decay.
There are places that should not die, and stories like this that should not be forgotten…
Born in 1987, Jonathan is an internation author, one of the most famous about “Urbex”. He is one of the most active in Ascosi Lasciti project. He is attracted by history, aesthetic beauty, architecture of abandoned places in all over Europe.
