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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The area of Méjanes, mentioned as early as the 11th century in the archives of the Archdiocese of Arles, was originally a monastic branch offering protection to local peasants. Its strategic positioning near the Vaccares pond made it a key place for agriculture, including the cultivation of the small reed. In the 13th century, the site passed into the hands of the Templars, who made it a point of monitoring the roads and streams of the Rhone delta, with a tower connecting Arles to Saintes-Maries by a lighthouse.

In the Middle Ages, Méjanes experienced troubled periods, as in 1165, when his inhabitants witnessed an episode of the dispute between Pope Alexander III and the antipope Pascal III. In 1225, Hugues IV des Beaux sold the pond of Vaccarès to Arles but retained the estate, before his son gave it to the Templars in 1240. After the fall of order, Méjanes passed to the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, then to the family of Aiguières in the 15th century, which became their exclusive lords.

In the 17th century, the property was owned by Piquet, a noble Picard family, by marriage. Jean-Baptiste Marie de Piquet, second Marquis de Méjanes (1729–86), erected the estate as a marquisate and marked history as a bibliophile: his collection founded the Méjanes library in Aix-en-Provence. It also modernises local agriculture, introducing fabric factories and encouraging vaccinations. After his death, Méjanes passed to his nephew, the Marquis de Lagoy, and then to the Count of Villandry in 1826.

The 19th century saw the field adapt to economic changes: the cultivation of rice, sugar cane and garance gradually replaced wheat, while the breeding of Camargue bulls and horses resisted crises, such as the invasion of locusts of 1613. The transport revolution (railway, steam navigation) revives agriculture, but the delta, which became Regional Natural Park in 1970, retains its wild character.

In 1939, Paul Ricard, founder of the eponymous empire, acquired Méjanes and made it a major agricultural and tourist field. During the Second World War, he withdrew his business and produced milk to escape the Mandatory Labour Service. He then developed the taurine traditions, building arenas inaugurated in 1955 (classified as Historical Monuments), and diversified the activities: restaurants, equestrian walks and small tourist train.

Today, the 600-hectare estate, still owned by the Ricard family and the Guillots, perpetuates polyculture (rice, cereals) and Camargue farming. Its arenas, high place of the Gardian games, and its remodeled medieval home (with pigeon, chapel and tower) make it a symbol of the perennial heritage of Camargue, between historical memory and contemporary dynamism.

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