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Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Entrée des Caves peintes

Chinon, Indre-et-Loire, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, registered (inscrit)
Protection
inscrit MH
Extent of protection
Entrée des Caves peintes (cad. AR 113) : inscription par arrêté du 19 avril 1932
Protection dates
1932/04/19 : inscrit MH
Type
portail
Ownership
propriété privée
Address
impasse des Caves-Peintes
Commune
Chinon
Département
Indre-et-Loire
Region
Centre-Val de Loire
Country
France
Coordinates
47.16763, 0.23892
Mérimée reference
PA00097668

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1637 map "The Dvkedome of Turone. Touraine. Tvronensis Ducatus" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

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This record on the Ministère de la Culture's POP platform ↗

The Ministère de la Culture's notice

L'entrée des caves peintes présente une arcade en tiers point de section rectangulaire. Ces caves sont mentionnées dans le Pantagruel de Rabelais. La cave peinte a été primitivement une carrière, creusée du 12e au 15e siècle par les entrepreneurs en maçonnerie chargés de la construction du château de Chinon et des remparts de la ville. Le lieu fut ensuite utilisé comme cellier à vin dès la fin du 15e siècle. La dénomination de "caves peintes" vient des fresques qui ornaient autrefois les murs et qui, d'après Rabelais, représentaient des danses bacchiques. Il n'en reste plus trace aujourd'hui.

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

The entrance to the painted cellars presents a pointed arch opening of rectangular section. These cellars are mentioned in Rabelais' Pantagruel. The painted cellar was originally a quarry, excavated from the 12th to 15th century by masonry contractors responsible for the construction of Chinon castle and the ramparts of the town. The place was subsequently used as a wine cellar from the end of the 15th century. The designation of "painted cellars" comes from the frescoes which formerly ornamented the walls and which, according to Rabelais, represented bacchic dances. No trace of them remains today.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Base Mérimée, Ministère de la Culture, data last updated 2026-09-17, reused under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Record text is reproduced unchanged. Ministère de la Culture · Licence Ouverte 2.0
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