Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Châtel-Guyon Theatre Casino was built in 1898 by the Parisian architect Albert Le Voisvenel in the thermal park, inaugurated on July 16, 1900. Symbol of the Belle Époque, it embodied the prestige of this booming spa, combining games, restaurants and shows in an eclectic building marked by monumental columns and an adorned pediment.

In 1909, Édouard-Jean Niermans – an architect renowned for his Parisian achievements such as the Folies Bergère or the Moulin Rouge – undertook a major expansion. He doubled the surface of the casino, raised the theatre with an innovative removable ceiling (unique in France), and created an Italian-style room with superior galleries and a rock decor. These transformations responded to the increasing number of curists and personalities who came to entertain themselves.

For more than a century, the theatre hosted classical plays (L'Ami Fritz, Apple d'Api), operettas, and later major artists such as Jacques Brel, Line Renaud or Dalida after the war. Its decline in the 1980s, due to the decline in thermalism, led to its closure in 2004. Purchased by the city in 2009, it was completely restored between 2013 and 2015 to reopen as a cultural place, preserving its historical decoration classified in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments since 2003.

The casino, initially equipped with some slot machines in 1901, completed the offer with a restaurant offering views of the thermal park. It was renovated in 2000. The whole, private property until 2009, illustrates the golden age of spas where games, culture and sociability blended for an easy clientele, coming to enjoy the waters and entertainment.

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