Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The château is a madness (residence of pleasure) built in the middle of the eighteenth century in Montpellier, in the Hérault. Originally a simple agricultural estate, it was transformed around 1730 into a house of the fields, then deeply remodeled after 1743 by Jean-Emmanuel de Guignard, Viscount of Saint-Priest, then intendant of the king in Languedoc. The Montpellieran architect Charles Gabriel Le Blanc designs the current building, while Jean Antoine Giral designs the gardens, integrating boxwoods, groves and a vast pool for nautical holidays.

In 1762, the Viscount of Saint-Priest ordered hydraulic works to decorate the park of fountains, basins and a central basin, where a local legend evokes the loss of the pastoral ring of the bishop of Montpellier during a night party. The estate, spared by the Revolution, became episcopal property from 1821 to 1905, before being acquired in 1906 by the Herault General Council.

Ranked a historic monument in 1922 for its facades, its park and its art works, the château d'Ô now houses a major cultural pole: a 230-seat theatre, an amphitheater with 1,800 seats and a 600-seat hall. The restored park preserves its original elements such as Aleppo pine trees, carved boxwoods and the remains of the water games, which bear witness to its festive past.

The building stands out for its architectural simplicity, with a central forebody animating a noble floor façade on garden ground floor. The pediment, pierced in the southern way, overcomes a roof of hollow tiles. The basin, now empty, was once reminiscent of the naumachi (shipping representations) organized for the distinguished guests, illustrating the fascist of the Languedoc aristocratic residences in the Enlightenment century.

Passed into various hands, the estate owes its name to the hydraulic works of the Viscount de Saint-Priest, which caused it to dig a basin in the shape of "O". Historical sources, such as Albert Leenhardt's (1931) or the departmental archives, underline his role as a place of reception and representation of the intendant power in Languedoc.

External links