Major changes 1819 (≈ 1819)
Add tank and rural building.
4e quart XVIIe - 1er quart XVIIIe siècle
Initial construction
Initial construction 4e quart XVIIe - 1er quart XVIIIe siècle (≈ 1825)
Building of Château Foucou, future bastide.
vers 1850
Conversion into bastide
Conversion into bastide vers 1850 (≈ 1850)
Developments by Giraudy, garden created.
28 septembre 1995
Historical classification
Historical classification 28 septembre 1995 (≈ 1995)
Registration facades, roofs and park.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Facades and roofs of the bastide itself; landscape park, including all its components; upper basins; entrance portal (cad. B 68, 51): registration by order of 28 September 1995
Key figures
Louis Joseph Giraudy - Owner and designer
Turns the castle into a bastide around 1850.
Origin and history
The bastide of Vallon Giraudy is an iconic building of the late 17th or early 18th century, located in the Saint-Joseph district of Marseille, at the southwest end of the Star massif. Accessible by the path of the Bessons or the crossing of the Saint Tower, it lies beyond the urban limits of the period, between the valleys of the Mûre and Dol. This isolated site, bordered later by the Marseille Canal, reflects Provencal rural architecture adapted to a preserved natural setting.
Originally called Château Foucou, the estate underwent major transformations in the 19th century. In 1819, a tank and a rural building were added. Around 1850, Louis Joseph Giraudy, the new owner, built the castle into a bastide and created a recreational garden, giving its present name to the valley. The ensemble, including facades, roofs and landscaped park with its basins, is listed as historical monuments in 1995 for its authenticity and its state close to that of the eighteenth century.
The bastide illustrates the evolution of Marseilles secondary residences, moving from a modest castle to a bourgeois pleasure home. Its park, composed of various landscape and hydraulic elements, bears witness to the aesthetic tastes and agricultural techniques of the time. Today private property, it remains a remarkable example of Provencal rural heritage, preserved despite the subsequent urban extensions.
