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Origin and history

La Bastide Provençale, also known as Maison du chemin du Paradis, is an emblematic house located in Martigues, built during the 2nd half of the 16th century. It was built from the stones of the ancient church of the Island and passed as an inheritance to Marie-Pélagie Garnier, mother of Charles Maurras, in 1881. The latter makes it his Provencal residence, a place of work and memory, where he transfers his Parisian library of 12,000 books, including dedications by major authors such as André Gide, Malraux or Paul Valéry.

The bastide, designed on three levels with cypress framed pieces, becomes the project of a centre for literary and historical studies according to the wishes of Maurras. He also built a symbolic garden, inspired by the Mediterranean and Greece, with historical inscriptions engraved on the wall of the Fastes (1944). This wall summarizes the history of Martigues, from Phocaean settlers to the Marshal of Villars, via the baili of Suffren. A bust of Maurras, carved by Henry Bernard, is installed there, while his heart is buried in the garden after his death.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1975 for its facades and roofs, the bastide was left to the city of Martigues in 1952, despite initial political reservations. After decades of management by her heirs, she was finally accepted by the town hall in 1997, with the obligation to preserve the library and the vocation of a writer's house. In 2012, 200,000 euros were invested in its restoration, but the site has remained closed to the public since 2018 for security reasons, despite the funds allocated (850,000 euros) not used.

Maurras planned to create a library museum accessible to young researchers, with its archives, manuscripts and personal objects (academic signs, portraits, rare editions). The garden, designed as a precise local history, includes Greek amphoras, Provencal epigraphs and Mediterranean trees. A monument honours Gérard Tenque, the native Templar founder of Martigues. Despite its cultural ambition, the project skates: in 2025, Le Figaro denounces the abandonment of the site by the municipality, without official explanation.

The bastide was also linked to literary works: Maurras wrote The Way of Paradise (1895), and Joseph Kessel devoted a chapter to him in From the Street of Rome to the Way of Paradise (1927). The legacy includes a popular library and a never-established management committee, reflecting post-Second World War political tensions. Today, the town hall plans to make it a research centre on 20th century politics, but work is slow, leaving the monument at risk.

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