Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The old palace of the Micheline, called La Belle Époque, was erected at the end of the 19th century in Carcassonne to house the offices of the Sabatier distillery and a festive hall on the first floor. The building is distinguished by its wide open west façade, two side gables, and an awning added in 1901 with a rock cave. This awning also allowed for the passage of a bottle-shaped reservoir of Gold-Kina, feeding a garden below with the water of the City. Industrial developments on the ground floor have now disappeared, but the structure retains traces of its original use.

The first floor is entirely occupied by a festive hall with sumptuous décor, mixing stucco, sculptures, paintings, ice creams, mouldings and gilding. On the west wall, two female statues frame a bust of Michel Sabatier, founder of the company, under a sculpted entanglement surmounted by feminine terms supporting a lyre — a symbol of his passion for music. The ceiling has a central pattern surrounded by cartridges with antelots, bearing Sabatier's initials and two key dates: 1885 (the company's foundation) and 1901 (the hall's creation).

Ranked Historic Monument in 2016, the palace protects its facades, roofs, the rock of the terrace, the festive hall with its decor, and the ground floor cabinet. Artists who contributed to his decoration include sculptor Louis Oury, painter Bugnard, and ornemanist Paul Vié. The building, owned by a private company, illustrates the golden age of local distilleries and the architectural fascist of the industrial era in Occitanie.

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