Curemonte has kept from its prestigious history an extremly rich heritage, i-e : three castles, three churches, six or seven "noble houses", a hall, and various rural houses which have kept their authenticity.
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The castles surround the church and the hall, in the middle of the village. Two of them belong to the same surrounding wall and have been owned by the same families since the 17th century. The Saint-Hilaire castle, with square towers, is the oldest one : it was built just at the end of the hundred Years' War ; the Plas castle (with round towers) was built in the middle of the 16th century. |
These castles were owned in 1940 by Bel Gazou, who was the daughter of a famous French writer : Colette. She came there to hide for a few weeks and wrote "Journal à Rebours", which contains some pages mentioning Curemonte in a poetical way.
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The third castle ("la Johannie") is next to the hall. It was built at the beginning of the 15th century and looks much like Saint-Hilaire castle except a high window decorated in the "Renaissance" way, which is a masterpiece. |
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The "noble houses" surrounding this group of buildings were built in the 16th century ; they belong to the officers who served the landlords. The various towers contribute to give the village a fortress aspect. |
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The main church is a 12th century feodal building, it was modified bit by bit over the centuries, but was fully restaured in the last few years. It is worth visiting. |
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The two other churches are worth visiting too. One is mentioned in the "Historic Monuments List", the other one is in the "Historic Monuments Additional List". They are called after the places where they have benn built : "La Combe" and "Saint-Genest", which are 1,5 km far from Curemonte.
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The "La Combe" church was built in the 11th century on Merovingian groundings, in a very pure Roman style. It is opened from Easter to All Saints Day and various exhibitions can be visited, i-e : contemporary paintings and sculptures or religious art photographs. |
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The "St-Genest" church was built in the 12th century by Benedictin monks. The parish was linked to Curemonte after the French Revolution. Once its restauration is fully completed, it should become a religious museum. Till then, you can admire remarkable retable and pulpit, and also beautiful wall-paintings dating from the 15th century. |
