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Origin and history

The Château de Calvières, located in Vézenobres in the Gard, has its origins before 1690, but its current construction dates mainly from the 3rd quarter of the 18th century (1746-1755). It was erected by architect Guillaume Rollin for Charles-François de Calvière, Marquis and lieutenant general of the King's armies. This Louis XV style castle, rare in the area, replaces a high castle destroyed in 1628 during the Duke of Rohan revolt. It incorporates elements of the Benedictine priory Saint-André, then in ruins, and is distinguished by a court of honor framed by galleries-terraces and a main body flanked by two wings.

The seigneury of Vézenobres, associated with the castle, has a complex history dating back to the 15th century with the family of Montfalcon. Claude de Montfaucon, Sénéchal de Carcassonne, inherited in 1485 before the seigneury passed, after legal conflicts, into the hands of the families of Faÿ and then Calvière in the 17th century. Abel-Antoine de Calvière became its owner in 1690, and his descendant, Charles-François de Calvière, undertook major work between 1746 and 1755. The castle, surrounded by a park inspired by the English and Italian gardens, houses a rich collection of art scattered by his son to settle debts.

The architect Guillaume Rollin, also active in Alès, designs a harmonious ensemble including a water castle, a theatre (perhaps from the 18th century but restored in the 19th century), and a chapel added in 1840. The Marquis Jacques-Alexis de Calvière, influenced by his travels to England and Italy, transformed the 17th century loggia into a Palladian portico and built the park with English in the 1850s. The castle, which was listed as a historical monument in 1947, thus bears witness to the evolution of architectural and landscape tastes of the Languedoc elites in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Before its present form, the site housed a high castle destroyed in 1628 and a lower castle cited in 1690, characterized by a three arcade gallery and a horse-drawn iron staircase. The 18th century works incorporate decorative elements such as wrought iron balconies marked with the A.C. monogram (Alphonse de Calvière), and Roman remains embedded in the walls of the gallery on the first floor. The castle finally passes to Pierre de Bernis Calvière, heirs by alliance, who perpetuate its maintenance and beautification until the nineteenth century.

The protection of the castle in 1947 covers the entire estate: the main body, the wings, the theatre, the water rooms, the water castle and the chapel. Dependencies, such as stables and sheds, complement this area, which illustrates both the aristocratic fascist of the Enlightenment century and the architectural adaptations of the later eras. The sources, including the works of Achilles Bardon and the archives of the Société française d'archéologie, underline its heritage importance in the Gard and in Occitanie.

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