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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Borély Castle is a neo-classical bastide built in the 4th quarter of the 18th century in the Bonneveine district of Marseille (8th arrondissement). He was commissioned by Louis Borély, a member of a powerful family of Marseille traders, and he embodied the fascist of the merchant elites of the time. The architect Charles-Louis Clérisseau drew plans in 1767, before Marie-Joseph Peyre simplified them. The castle, richly decorated, includes a private marble chapel and sumptuous lounges, reflecting the prestige of its owners.

The Borély family, anobligated under Louis XV, was enriched by the maritime trade (wheat, silk, oil) between Marseille and Egypt. Nicolas Borély, first bishop of Marseilles in 1747, and his brother Louis enlarged the family estate by successive acquisitions ("La Tirane", "La Michèle", etc.). The castle, completed by Louis Joseph Denis Borély, was decorated by the painter Louis Chaix before his death in 1784. His heir, Honoré Borély, an academician, preserved the place during the Revolution.

In 1856, Marquis Gaston de Panisse, the last owner, exchanged the castle for a land at the Chartreux, as part of an agreement with the city and industrialist Paulin Talabot. In 1860, the estate was transformed into a city: the racetrack and the Borély park (17 hectares, designed by Adolphe Alphand) opened to the public. The castle first houses the Museum of Archaeology (1856–1989), then, after restoration, the Museum of Decorative Arts, Faience and Fashion since 2013.

Ranked a historic monument in 1936, Borély Castle is an exceptional testimony of Provencal neo-classical architecture and Marseille economic history. Its park, collections (feathers, old fashions) and hippodrome make it a major cultural site. The entire estate, outside the already classified castle, is listed as historical monuments in September 2024.

Future

The castle Borély serves as an example of the museum of decorative arts, faience and fashion.

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