But this is not India or Cambodia but southeast France and this extraordinary edifice was not dreamt up by an ancient mystic or Salvador Dali but over a century ago by a humble French provincial postman. The "Ideal Palace" was created by Ferdinand Cheval, known as Facteur Cheval (Postman Cheval), in his home town of Hauterives south of the city of Lyon. Malraux defied experts at the time, who denounced the edifice as hideous, to bestow the protection on the Ideal Palace on September 23, 1969. "It is this idea that this man, who was very poor, built himself a palace, the perfect palace," he added. 'A total mixture'The Ideal Palace contains representations of a mosque, a Hindu temple and a mediaeval castle.

Source: The Local September 28, 2019 09:11 UTC