Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Celeyran Castle, located near Salles-d'Aude in the Aude, is a monument dating back to the Gallo-Roman period. A tangible proof of this period remains: a stone bearing a Gallo-Roman inscription, embedded in the south wall of the bedside of the chapel. This architectural element motivated its partial classification as historical monuments in 1952, emphasizing its heritage importance and its anchor in ancient times.

From the 17th century, the castle belonged to the Mengau-Tapié family, which kept it until the end of the 19th century. In 1883 Amédée Tapié transferred the estate to Thérèse Humbert, marking a change of ownership. The place gained a notable artistic dimension when Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec spent part of his youth there between 1880 and 1882. His works made in Celeyran, later offered to the city of Albi, will form the heart of the future Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, illustrating the profound link between the artist and this site.

In the 20th century, Édouard Soulas, an enriched merchant in Argentina, acquired the estate before 1917 and undertook important work. He renovated the technical facilities and redecorated the castle in a neo-Louis XV style, an aesthetic choice which he reproduced in a Nice villa after 1924. Soulas died at Celeyran in 1943, leaving behind an architectural heritage marked by his eclecticism. The castle, after decades of transformation and degradation, was bought in 2009 by the Languedoc-Roussillon region and then sold in 2019 to Gérard Bertrand, a major figure in Languedoc winemaking.

The archives of the estate, preserved at the Departmental Archives of Aude, testify to its turbulent history. The site, although partially protected, has suffered fire and degradation, but remains a symbol of local heritage. The Gallo-Roman stone classified and the paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec make it a place at the crossroads of ancient history, 19th century art and regional winemaking.

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