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Origin and history

Château des Verrières, or Castel-Gesta, is a "castelized villa" built by Louis-Victor Gesta, a Toulouse painter-glassmaker, at the end of the 19th century in the Faubourg Arnaud-Bernard. This neo-Gothic building, both a residence and a place of exhibition, was the heart of one of France's most important stained glass factories. Gesta presented her creations, especially to clergymen, and the site included a large park decorated with authentic medieval sculptures. After his death in 1894, the castle changed hands several times, becoming in turn a school, a vocational high school, and then a place occupied by the national police.

In 1862 Gesta built workshops and a stained glass oven on a family land, followed by a medieval-style exhibition building. The success was immediate, with thousands of stained glass windows produced for churches in France and abroad. The castle itself was later added, including two exhibition halls: the Chapel, decorated by Joseph Angalières, and the Hall of Illustrators, decorated with canvases maroufléd by Bernard Bénézet celebrating famous Toulosains. These richly decorated spaces reflected Gesta's artistic and heritage ambition.

In the 20th century, Castel-Gesta had a turbulent history. Sold after the bankruptcy of Gesta, it will house the Sisters of Charity during the Second World War, serving as a refuge and learning centre. In 1956, the state made it a professional high school, then the city of Toulouse bought it back in 1987 to install an organ class and a private school. Ranked a historic monument in 1991, he was the victim of a fire and a vast real estate scam in the early 2000s, before being restored from 2014.

The neo-Gothic building is distinguished by its three turrets (including a hexagonal), its warhead windows, and its re-used 15th and 16th century decor elements. The Hall of Illustrators, masterpiece of the castle, celebrates Toulouse figures through murals and decorated ceilings. After decades of degradation and aborted projects, its recent restoration aims to restore its brilliance in Dantan, while integrating a contemporary real estate project.

Castel-Gesta illustrates both Toulouse's artistic influence in the 19th century and the challenges of heritage preservation. Its history reflects urban change, economic challenges (bankruptcies, scams) and the successive uses of an emblematic monument, now protected but marked by a tumultuous past.

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