A When Michel Guyot, the owner of the Saint-Fargeau castle in the Burgundy area of France, announced that he was going to totally build a 13th century castle in an area where his 15th century castle had stood, using tools and methods of construction that were available only in the Middle Ages, some found this idea mildly amusing and others dismissed as outright folly. 1However, Maryline Martin, who became the project director for the construction project, viewed the idea as exciting, one that could regenerate the energy and the economy of the region. Before the project started, various partners in the project had to be secured, including architects, archaeologists, and investors. A site in the heart of Guedelon forest was later found: a site which offered not only all the resources required for building a castle, a stone quarry, an oak forest and a water supply - but sufficient enough to satisfy the demands of this massive undertaking. Work on the castle started on June 20, 1997, when the first stone was laid.
B Unlike owners of any other present-day building site, Michel Guyot welcomes the public to be part of the project. The workers' role is to demonstrate and expand, to a wide audience, the skills of our forefathers. 13Stone quarrying, the building of vaulted ceilings, the blacksmith's work and the raising of roof timbers are just some of the activities which visitors can witness during a visit to Guedelon. The workers are always on hand to talk about their craft and the progress of the castle, at the cost of falling behind the construction schedule. Guided tours are tailored to the school curriculum and age groups. Pupils of all ages have the opportunity to follow the footsteps of medieval stonemasons by taking part in a stone-carving workshop or discover the secrets of the medieval master-builders at the geometry workshop.
C 2Interestingly, this project does not involve restoring an old castle. Instead, a new “old" castle is being built. 2-11Builders are creating a castle from zero. They have been building it for nearly ten years now, but the project is not even halfway finished. 12Jean Francois, a member of the Guedelon stone cutter's guild, says that he works eight hours a day using a 13th Century chisel and iron mallet. Apparently, there is no way to speed up without the involvement of modern technology.
D Construction is sometimes hindered by the fact that the site is open to tourists during construction. 3The visitors, however unsightly they may be, are vital to the project. The initial funding came not from pillaging the local peasantry but from regional councils, the European Union and large companies. For the last 10 years, Guedelon, 100 miles southeast of Paris, has funded itself from its entrance fees. Last year it had a record of 300,000 visitors, who paid almost €2.5m, making it the second most-visited site in Burgundy. The most-visited site was the Hospice de Beaune, a beautiful 15th-century alms-house built 600 years before, or, if you prefer, 200 years “after”, Guedelon.
E Limestone is found in the construction of various local buildings, from the great and prestigious edifice of Ratilly castle to the more modest audiences houses. 5-6As limestone (containing 30% - 40% iron oxide) is extremely difficult to cut and dress, quarrymen need to determine and anticipate the natural fault of the stone before digging a series of angular holes into the block and hammering iron wedges into these holes. 7The shock waves produced by the quarrymen's sledgehammers cause the stone to split along a straight line. The highest quality blocks are used to produce lintels, voussoirs, corbels, ashlars etc. 8-9The medium quality blocks are roughly shaped by the stone cutters and used on the course curtain walls, and as facing stones on the castle's inner walls. There are water-filled clay pits in the forest. Clay is taken from these pits before being cleaned and plugged. It is then shaped in wooden moulds to form bricks. After the bricks have been left to air-dry, they are placed in a wood fired kiln for about 12 hours, heated at roughly 100℃.
F The mortar is the“glue” used to bind the castle's stones. 10It is made up of precise doses of lime, sand and water. The people working there mix their mortar primarily as they would have done in the 13th century, using sand, instead of the extremely effective hot lime from medieval day, because of its toxicity, and a modern chemical ingredient is applied to achieve the same effect.G We also learned that even if there is a straight lintel across a doorway, an arch of stones is also used to create further support. 4The physics of an arch, which channels the weight above it down into whatever is supporting it at each side instead of pressing down in the middle, helps to take a lot of weight off the lintel itself, whether it is free standing or buried in the wall against the impact of warfare. The arch is the strongest element for spanning space in stone architecture. This is why, in ancient ruins, arched windows and doorways will remain standing even though entire walls are missing or down.
