Fun Facts About The Palais Idéal
The Palais Idéal stands as a monumental achievement of "outsider art" located in Hauterives, France, constructed entirely by a local postman named Ferdinand Cheval. The project began in 1879 after Cheval tripped over an unusually shaped stone—a piece of water-hardened mollasse sandstone—while walking his 18-mile mail route. Inspired by the natural sculpture of the rock, he spent the next 33 years collecting stones in a wheelbarrow and cementing them together using a self-taught method of reinforced lime and cement. The resulting structure is a fantastical labyrinth of grottos, towers, and…
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