For 30 years, Ferdinand Cheval collected interesting and unusual stones in a wheelbarrow on his route as a rural postman in France. His interest in sculpture was ignited then he found the first stone, and led to a lifelong project.
He started in April 1874, when he was in his 30s and eventually built Le Palais idéal (The Ideal Palace) an elaborate limestone cathedral complete with buttresses, pillars, and grottoes, in addition to his postal work.
“I said to myself: since Nature is willing to do the sculpture, I will do the masonry and the architecture,” he wrote in his journal. The masterpiece took 33 years and over 10,000 journeys down his route to complete.
Finished in 1912, his palace is unique and has inspired artists for more than a century. Independent from any artistic trend, it was built with no architectural rules and was classified as an Historical Monument in 1969 by André Malraux, French Minister for Cultural Affairs.
He was entirely self taught and modelled his palace at night, which lead some to call it a monument of obstinacy. He wrote on his building that it was “the work of one man.”
The Ideal Palace has a flourishing garden, and is decorated with octopus, hind, caiman, elephant, pelican, bear, birds, giants, fairies, mythological figures or architectures from all the continents. Ferdinand Cheval died in 1924, but his palace is visited to this day. Shortly before his death, Cheval began to receive some recognition from renowned artists like André Breton and Pablo Picasso.
You will find The Ideal Palace in Hauterives, a small village between Lyon and Valence.
