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Château de Grésillon
A view of the château.
Location within France
Alternative names	Kastelo Greziljono
Etymology	Place where crickets chirp
General information
Location	Baugé-en-Anjou, Maine-et-Loire, France
Address	St. Martin d’Arcé, 49150 Baugé-en-Anjou, France
Coordinates	47.5513°N 0.0823°W / 47.5513; -0.0823
Owner	Kulturdomo de Esperanto
Website
Official site

The Château de Grésillon (French pronunciation: [ʃɑto də gʁezijɔ̃]; Esperanto: Kastelo Greziljono) is an 18^th century château situated in Baugé-en-Anjou, 250 kilometres to the southwest of Paris, between Angers, Le Mans and Tours in the west of France.

The Kulturdomo de Esperanto (Culture House of Esperanto), a non-profit organization established in 1951, owns the château along with its 18 hectare park. It is frequently visited by Esperanto students from all around the world, especially during the summer and school breaks in France.

History

Prehistory

The land where the château now lies has been inhabited since before recorded history. Neolithic dolmens can be found a few hundred metres from Grésillon, one of the best-preserved dolmens in the region.

Initial owners

The first manor on the land of the current castle was built on land named Grands Champs (Great Plains) around the year 1585 by master mason René du Chesnel for Lord Julien Lebigot, who gifted it as a dowry to his wife, Jeanne. The farm received the Middle French name Grésillon, for being the place where crickets chirp.

Until the 17^th century, Grésillon was a dependent of the nearby Rondelliere, owned by the Le Bigot family. The château later changed owners many times, belonging to Angelique Bellet in 1634, René de Cherbonnière in 1685, and the Commeau family after him.

The château was undamaged during the French Revolution of 1789. 80 residents of Grésillon were (justice officers?) before and after the revolution. Auguste Commeau, judge in the Baugé tribunal and magistrate during the Second French Empire, hosted his nephew's son Clément Myonnet during his free time in Grésillon, a student in Baugé from 1824 to 1829. Myonnet was a founder of a community of religious followers of Saint Vincent de Paul.

In 1878, Auguste Commeau died without any children. His niece Valentine Chesneau de la Haugreniere, wife of Laurent Ferriere de Coutrolles, inherited Gresillon. The initials FC are engraved on a chimney inside the château. The Ferriere family played an important role in the Baugé region from the 17^th century: (justice officers?), (deputy for the legislative assembly) and mayor, which transformed the centre of Baugé, constructed the tribunal and the jail.

New barnhouse

According to a cadastral map from 1834, the old château from the 16^th century consisted of a single-story primary building, flanked by two long wings.The Ferriere family attempted to transform it while conserving the manor, which became a wing of the château. Eventually, the château fell into ruins.

In 1882, after a fire, its owner, Laurent Ferriere de Coutrolles, decided to rebuild Gresillon so that the farm would not be split among the inheritors. The new house was built of red bricks and limestone. It was erected (some time before the old one) to conserve, at that point, still fortified wall segments, which have now been made part of the kitchen. The designer of the new project was the architect Adrien Dubos, an alumnus of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is the creator of hundreds of various buildings constructed between 1869 to 1913 in Angers and its surroundings.

A Rennaissance chimney made of sculpted wood located in the dining room did not belong to the old château, but still dates to the same time period. The years 1634-1882 can be found engraved on the chimney, indicating the years of the creation and displacement to the reconstructed château.

In 1914, the Ranson-Roblot family purchased the château. During World War II, the château was occupied by Nazi troops. After the owner's death in 1946, the château was sold once again.

House of Esperanto

Around the year 1949, the francophone branch of the International League of Esperanto Instructors, named the Groupement des Enseignants d'Espéranto (GEE; Association of Esperanto Instructors), planned to purchase ("a bourgeois house for springtime training of instructors in training for fundamental school"?). In 1950, the approximately 900 GEE members meeting expressed overwhelming favor of the purchase at the meeting occurring during the Esperanto-France national congress.

In 1951, Jacqueline Trésorier agreed with Henri Micard to loan 250,000 francs for this purpose, which was all of the spare funds available at the time. Many other Esperantists, including those outside of GEE, purchased societaj partoj (social parts) at 10,000 F each and the GEE treasury had 160,000 F. This enabled the château to be purchased. The official name Kulturdomo de Franclandaj Esperantistoj (Culture House of French Esperantists) remained from 1951 to 2012. After and member conference and statute change in 2012, the long-used name Kulturdomo de Esperanto (Culture House of Esperanto) became official.

From 1953, Pierre Babin guided Esperanto classes in the château, and after the assistance of Micard as vice-director, Babin was made president of the culture house in 1964.

21^st century

On July 20, 2002, the Culture House of Esperanto celebrated its 50-year anniversary. On March 10, 2012, a special convention was held to modify the statute and officially rename the association to Kulturdomo de Esperanto, which had already been use for years.

From 2013, Grésillon has been a member of the tourism office and began announcing the ability to rent the château.

In 2016, the nearby former rail line became the Verda Vojo (Green Line), reserved for pedestrians and non-motor vehicles.

Events

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The château

Primary building

Bedrooms

Grésillon has about 25 bedrooms with around 60 beds available on the first and second floors of the primary building and in the secondary buildings. Each bedroom has a sink and bidets. Camping is permitted on the château grounds.[cite]

Secondary buildings

Southwest of the primary building, there are two long, arcing buildings. The buildings contain a bookbinding room, a canteen, bedrooms, three classrooms able to hold 6, 10 and 14 students respectively, and the Zamenhof salon, which is used for examinations, concerts and lectures.[cite]

There is also a gate standing between the secondary buildings, leading to the Verda Vojo (formerly a railway).

Other buildings

The château grounds also house other buildings: a furnace, a washroom, a (hangar/shed?), a former chicken coop, a camping lavatory and an old well.

Amateur radio station

The château is the official site of the amateur radio station club Grupo de Esperanto-Parolantaj Radio-Amatoroj en Francio (Group of Esperanto-Speaking Radio Amateurs in France), using the callsign F5KSP.[cite] The station has (conditions?) for broadcasting in many (?) like telegraphy, radio transmission, amateur radio satellite, slow-scan television and PSK31, among others.

Administrative committee

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Images

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External links

• Greziljono Facebook group
• Official website (Esperanto, French and German versions)