The Ideal Palace of the French postman

Posted by Bogdan on February 9, 2010 | 3 Comments

The Ideal Palace (Le Palais Idéal), is a impressive construction, built by a French postman, Ferdinand Cheval (1836-1924). Cheval began the building in April 1879, using stones that he was collecting while delivering mails. He did this for 33 years, and most of the time he was working at night, helped by the light from oil lamps.

First he was carrying stones in his pockets, later he used a basket and finally a wheelbarrow. He used lime, mortar and cement to bound the stones together.

After finishing his Ideal Palace, Cheval spent another 8 years to build a mausoleum for him in the cemetery of Hauterives, the same town where the palace is built.

The palace is considered the only example of naive architecture.

If you ever want to visit Le Palais Ideal, is located in Hauterives, near Lyon, in France.