[F] Il fut construit vers 1600 par François Mareschau le seigneur de Portoville. Il possède un lanternon ardoisé en écaille de poisson et quatre lucarnes orientées aux points cardinaux.
Ces dernières années il servait de porcherie.
Ce pigeonnier est avec la grange aux Moines l'un des rares édifices remarquables de Berthenay c'est la raison pour laquelle il figure sur le girouet de la commune, symbole de la reconnaissance du Val de Loire au patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO.
[E] It was built around 1600 by François Mareschau the lord of Portoville. It has a slate lantern in fish scales and four skylights oriented cardinal points.
In recent years it served as a pigsty.
This dovecote is with the barn Monks one of the few remarkable buildings of Berthenay that is the reason why it is on the girouet of the town, symbol of the recognition of the Loire Valley UNESCO world heritage.
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Translation of the text of the website:
"It is located in Portoville, 1 km downstream from Berthenay, inside a private property. It occupies the southwest corner of the wall of the former farm. Cylindrical, it offered the advantage easier internal exploitation. Built in stone, flint kidneys and other siliceous materials harvested in the fields and flooded in a mortar, its elegance comes from its cover:
a roof of flat tiles topped a slate lantern. The tile recalls the usual landscape material
and accessible to all..
Completed in the 16th century, the farm of Portoville depended on the abbey of Beaumont lès Tours. In the church of Berthenay a stained glass window from the studio Lobin gives us a very beautiful image.
The peasants around seeing their hopes of harvest melt at the rhythm of the flocks of pigeons who came down there could only be dissatisfied. 1789 signed the abolition of privileges, including that of the dovecotes.
In 1791 Portoville is sold as public property, the owners succeed to his head, abandoning the breeding of pigeons for cattling. Today a new destiny is offered in Portoville gardening.
The slate conveyed from Anjou, very expensive and reserved for churches, castles or mansions, amplifies here the nobility of the place. Cut into fish scales, it highlights the refinement of the project and the excellence of its performers.
For the pigeons, their home was accessible by the lantern and skylights oriented to the four cardinal points. Soberly hatched in a triangle, they also ensured the entry of light and ventilation, essential for hygiene. The modest dimensions of their opening were intended to give access only to boarders, a simple and effective way to fight against predators. Nozzles, crows, owls and other hawks were among the most formidable, all equally fond of eggs than youngsters.
Inside, 1250 boulins, all facing to the left, line the wall. These family dwellings were intended to house each a couple of pigeons and its brood, in maximum comfort. He had to be able to mate, lay, hatch and raise his little ones quietly.
Larger inside than the entrance suggests, the balls are indeed bent, which generously increases the living space, protects the nest of harmful air currents and ensures privacy.
The six strips of stone (dripstone) also distributed over the height of the wall, projecting, were intended to protect the birds from predators from the ground. They also served as a flight beach.
At the entrance of each boulin the soft stone is scratched by the claws of pigeons' paws.
In the middle of the dovecote, a stone base (the fair) equipped with a punch, receives the vertical shaft, hollowed in its center. This process is identical to the other end where the tree is set this time at the crossroads of the transverse master beams (the links). In Portoville the scales have unfortunately disappeared."