Discover Facteur Cheval's palais – from home

One of the France’s most unusual monuments – the Palais idéal du Facteur Cheval – can now be explored in a range of special ways, through videos, photos, songs and more.

Oliver Rowland
Published Modified

The official Facebook and Instagram pages for the palais, which was built by a French postman over more than 30 years using stones he collected on his rounds, is posting up new content every week to help people enjoy it despite the fact that the site, in Hauterives, Drôme, is closed due to Covid-19.

The posts include:

  • A daily quotation from Ferdinand Cheval (known as le Facteur Cheval), who used to inscribe his thoughts on the monument.
  • Each Wednesday, a ‘virtual visit’ of a temporary exhibition about French photographer, director and artist Agnès Varda and her love of the palais.
  • Every Friday, a link to a song inspired by the Facteur Cheval.
  • Every Saturday, a virtual visit of the site, with a high-definition video filmed by a drone.
  • Every Sunday, an extract from a documentary made for last year’s 50th anniversary of the site’s listing as a national monument

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