Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Bourran Castle, located in Mérignac en Gironde, is a classically inspired building built in the second half of the 19th century. It replaces a former 18th century castle, owned by François-Armand Saige, attorney general and mayor of Bordeaux, guillotineed in 1793 under the Terror. The estate, then dedicated to viticulture in the Graves, was confiscated and inventoried after its execution, revealing a flourishing wine production before the phylloxera crisis.

At the end of the 19th century, the shipowner Émile Ravesies and his son-in-law, the banker Piganneau, acquired the estate and had the old castle shaved to build the current building, designed by architects Jules and Paul Lafargue. The castle, rectangular with five buildings, has neo-Renaissance facades and interiors decorated with woodwork and painted decorations. In 1890, landscaper Louis Le Breton built the park around a lake, incorporating factories such as a medieval bridge, a rock cave and a hydraulic tower.

The 18-hectare park, fed by Devèze, is adorned with exotic species (cedars, redwoods, magnolias) and floral compositions. After sheltering a normal school in 1944, the castle became the property of the General Council of the Gironde in 1947. Today, it hosts the National Higher Institute of Faculty and Education in Aquitaine, while the communal park remains open to the public.

The estate illustrates the evolution of the uses of aristocratic properties: first wine under the Old Regime, then residential and landscaped in the 19th century, before turning into a public and educational space in the 20th century. The elements protected since 1992 include facades, some interior decorations and the park's factories, which bear witness to its architectural and social history.

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