How to Build a Medieval Castle | Medieval Castle Guédelon | Europe To The Maxx

I certainly never thought I'd end up in the quarry for Europe to the Mexi but here dozens of craftsmen and workers are building a castle from the Middle Ages blacksmiths don't crushes carpenters stonemasons rope makers bricklayers and [Music] and they're only using the materials and technology from that era and today I'm one of them building a castle the Chateau de gatorlaw is Europe's biggest medieval castle reconstruction project it's located about 200 kilometres south of Paris France near the village of trainee in the Burgundy region the idea is to reproduce a slice of life in the 13th century the castle never actually existed before this is a modern-day medieval style building on a 70,000 square metre site the plant took shape in the mid 1990s a group of architects historians and archaeologists came together to find out what building a real castle in the Middle Ages involved they raised the needed funds and began ma Helene Martin has supervised the project since the first stone was laid in 1997 it's a castle in the style of King Philip Augustus of France like the Louvre in Paris it has a tower for the Lords of the castle a living area and several turrets the castle is designed so it's very difficult to attack and conquer it it's a small castle and the social status of its owner would be relatively low fall together including the family the staff and the soldiers no more than 15 to 20 people would have lived here about 40 craftsmen work here from spring to fall another 30 employees take care of the administration [Music] it's a bit like an orchestra with many different instruments every craftsman is important everyone is needed every day to build this castle I commemorate important and anyone can join in even me every year 600 volunteers come along to help out and today I'm one of them I can't show up dressed like this of course that's better now I'm ready for my first assignment in the quarry castles were generally built right near a quarry so the distance that they have is stones had to be transported would be as short as possible this is hard labour especially for me obviously but the stone cutters don't just randomly break up rocks here they cut them into specific shapes and sizes tarnish Rovin shows me how to do it so I just put it in the middle and I want to equal blocks so I just put it in the middle and it's gonna split in this direction so we have these iron leaves that was gonna place against the sides he's gonna hold the iron wedge you see iron wedge who's gonna split this down with a few pointers it's not all that hard is it now the stone blocks go to the stonemasons one after another on wooden carts [Music] the stonemasons have to get the blocks in shape I have to get myself in shape with a couple of dry runs Alain Resnais uses a wooden stencil to show me what the stone is supposed to look like when I'm done lift the chisel a bit just like that our days we use different tools because stuff needs to get done faster and that's the only difference here I work on the stone with my hands not with a machine we've got the time for it and the time to show and explain it to the children and adults but the love for the stone is the same I just express it differently here two hours later one stone block has been dressed now we can mark this stone it's done I mark every stone with my own symbol my Mason's mark has proof of my work in the Middle Ages we'd be paid for every single stone I a mark my stone with a DW of course for Deutsche Welle when the Portales next year we'll use it in that tower it'll go into the last row of stones now you've helped build it Deutsche Welle will be represented in this castle forever various guilds have set up shop around the site it runs almost entirely autonomous all the materials and tools are produced on-site the carpenters cut the root into Bemis tools and scaffolding even the baskets are woven on-site pigments are made from earth and various rocks to mix the paints used on the walls and textiles [Music] work from the surrounding forest is used to make the roof shingles a blacksmith forges the nails hinges and iron tools the gatorlaw construction site has turned into a tourist attraction about 300,000 people visit annually revenues from admissions finance the project as a whole [Music] they're 15 odd it's fascinating and I admire the patience they muster in building the castle it's interesting to see how things are made the medieval way with simple means today everything's automated and we've lost quite a lot of knowledge that way I found that pretty fascinating how it all gets hell fits together from the small small pista and having a large skill product now I had over to see the Masons but before the stones can be placed they have to be hoisted up onto the tower so I have to get into the tread wheel this is how they lifted heavy loads in the Middle Ages the get-along craftsmen have revived many long-forgotten techniques workers like Mike Moore four are here to learn how to use the methods and materials of the period but not to imitate the way of life of the Middle Ages among the winners here is science historians gain a better idea of how certain work was done back then in the Middle Ages craftsmen were held in high regard they were the ones who passed on the skills and knowledge [Music] [Applause] I became a Mason here just by chance I was a graphic artist in Paris for 20 years after watching a film about get along I said to myself that's what I have to do this is important this is our cultural heritage so from one day to the next I decided to change professions I slogged away here for 3 years and now here I am finishing this castle what I'm doing here is for eternity parts of the castle have already been completed the residential chambers give some idea how the Lord of the castle and his family and staff would have lived here an end to the construction work is nowhere in sight for the workers in gate alone the journey is the reward castle belongs to us all that's my message come and you can be stonemasons you can see the beautiful roof timbering in the Murrells we all feel the same thrill when we see something beautiful and that beauty is not reserved for an elite alone we're building this beauty with our hands our heads and our hearts I still got a bit of building to do with my hands head and heart as well I'm heading up to the heights and help to tie the roof on the chapel tower with locally fired tiles of course I don't know why anyone would choose not to use modern technology but I'm really impressed by the people of getting on with their passion and enthusiasm for this project what do you think about the get along Castle project it's a genius or madness [Music] you

Channel: DW Euromaxx

Views: 144,275

Keywords: guedelon, guedelon castle, guédelon, construction guédelon, DW, DW Euromaxx, Euromaxx, middle ages, building, medieval, medieval castle, france, castle, burgundy, build, stone, merlon, history, treigny, crenelations, medieval crane, education, drone, how to build castle, guedelon project, building a castle guedelon

Id: cJibYZfn4Bo

Length: 10min 46sec (646 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 07 2019