In addition,
More than 100 statues cut:
In a remote corner of Creuse. Moreover, Masgot, a tiny village in the town of Fransches, seems a peaceful hamlet as there are so many others in this region. Therefore, Granite houses, low walls, some trees twisted by the wind. However, barely engaged in the alleys, something is wrong. Consequently, Or rather, something speaks. Therefore, Faces frozen in the stone sets yousculpted owls observe you, a granitic napoleon camped on a margelle.
This is not a theater setting. Consequently, It is a dream of a peasant forumé 200 years ago which became reality. Therefore,
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MASGOT, the village with 100 statues – More than 100 statues cut
François Michaud was born in 1810. However, He will not know Paris, nor the galleries. Moreover, He knows the earth, the cold, the sickle and the stones which roll at the bottom of the fields. Nevertheless, Each more than 100 statues cut evening, entering the work, he catches his chisel. Therefore, For forty years, he sculpts. Moreover, A rustic and symbolic bestiary comes to life : Marianne, lions, toads, chimeras, and even political winks.
He does not seek glory or customer. In addition, He wants to speak. So he speaks with what he has on hand: the granite of the Creuse, hard as a winter of 1840. It size everything: lintels, thresholds, walls, fountains. The sculptures arise everywhere, in the countryside.
When the village becomes open -air museum – More than 100 statues cut
Masgot is today A homogeneous set of rural houses decorated with sculpted. figuresa unique case in France. There are nearly one hundred listed works. It is not a thematic park, it is a village where the walls tell stories.
For two decades. the Heritage Foundation and local communities have invested several hundred thousand euros to restore houses and protect the sculptures. The granite ages more than 100 statues cut badly in the rain. It was necessary to intervene.
Today, several thousand visitors survey the alleys of Masgot every yearguided by the curiosity or chance of a ride. The silence of the place adds to the strangeness of the experience.
The village of Masgot has more than 100 statues that are the pleasure of thousands of tourists each year.
Living stone economy
It is not just a frozen village. Mangot lives. Thanks to the association “Les Amis de la Pierre”, granite sculpture courses take place every summer. Nearly 500 people come to initiate them every yearsome out of passion. others to touch Michaud’s world at the end of the chisel.
An associative coffee offers drinks and small catering. A shop sells objects more than 100 statues cut inspired by the Masgot universe. Gîtes welcome visitors. The rural economy feeds here on an improvised artistic heritage in the 19th century.
The overnight stays are counted by hundreds each year. For a village of less than 30 inhabitants, it is a world.
A symbol for Creuse
MASGOT has become an emblem. A counterexample, too. While many hamlets are emptying, attracts him. It attracts because it offers something else. A sensitive heritage, sculpted by naked handwithout urban plan, without initial subsidy, without masterclass. A heritage carried by a single man, a romantic ode to beauty in a way.
Today, the Creuse claims this treasure. She joined her in her brochures, her cultural journeys, her territorial education projects. Because Masgot proves that an artistic work, even modest, can become a lever for sustainable development.
The dream engraved in the walls
Leaving Masgot. we keep the impression of having visited The granite more than 100 statues cut memory of an obstinate man. Each face in the stone. each stylized animal is a frozen thought, a fragment of humanity placed at the edge of a path. Nothing flashes, nothing speaks strong.
It is a poetry of the humble. A rural art, halfway between devotion, satire and tale. And maybe that’s what touches the most: the certainty that one can sculpt your trace in the worldeven with little.
Even alone and in the middle of the Creuse!
Village site: https://www.masgot.fr/
Further reading: The most beautiful Art Nouveau facade in Paris is hidden in the 7th – A masterpiece of Art Nouveau hidden in Brussels – “A French castle in America”: discover this luxurious field of New Jersey inspired by European Historical Palaces – The unknown stay of the great Japanese painter Foujita in the Vézère valley during the Great War – From New Zealand to the south of France, this wood sculptor has chosen to set up his workshop in Carcassonne.
