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Château de Méréville à Méréville dans l'Essonne

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine défensif
Demeure seigneuriale
Château de style Renaissance
Essonne

Château de Méréville

    Rue du Commandant Arnoux 
    91660 au Mérévillois
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Château de Méréville
Crédit photo : Attaleiv - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
XVIe siècle
Construction of the original mansion
1688
Buy by Pierre Delpech
1784–1794
Golden age under Laborde
1794
Execution of the Marquis
1977–1978
Historical Monument
2000
Purchase by department
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The facades and roofs of the castle and the following rooms with their decor: the antechamber, the dining room and the living room on the ground floor; The Grand Park with its seventeen factories or vestiges of factories, namely: the Swiss lower court, the dovecote, the two ice-makers, the caves of the Demoiselles, the cave north of the old dairy, the caves under the former Temple of the subsidiary Piety, the dairy, the gardener's house, the mill, the pavilion, the mahogany bridge, the bridge of the golden balls, the curved bridge, the bridge of the road (for the part belonging to the forest group of Landeroyne), the bridge of rocks, the great Rocks; the washyard located to the south of the bridge over the June (cad. AK 134, 325; C 1-17; D 1-14, 16-28): by order of 15 June 1977 - The "Colonne Trajane", manufactures of the old small park (cad. AH 57): classification by decree of 7 September 1978 - The remaining parts of the following five factories of the former small park: the "fort" (1, avenue Raymond-Poincaré, cad. AH 37), the "English stables" (3, avenue Raymond-Poincaré, cad. AH 39), the bridge of the road (half, cad. AH 38), the "petit château" (1, avenue de Laborde, cad. AH 142), the "false chapel" (route de Saint-Cyr, cad. AH 200): inscription by decree of 7 September 1978 - All rooms with their decoration on the ground floor of the castle, with the exception of the three rooms already classified (box D 19): classification by decree of 17 December 1993 - The interiors of the castle, with the exception of all rooms on the ground floor classified (box D 19): inscription by order of 17 December 1993 - In total, the aqueduct of the estate, including the valve allowing its intake at the Semainville mill (see AK 331, 332, 334, 712, 713); AI 187, 192, 240; AL 273, 274, 283, 284, 284, 288, 290, 294, 295, 304, 325 to 328, 539, 565, 566, 627, 636, 637, 647 to 650, 653, 654, 670,682, 683, 731, 859, 860, 929, 938, 946, 950, 951, 955, 958, 1011; AM 15, for the valve and the origin of the aqueduct; C 10, for the last section and the outlet of the aqueduct, see plan annexed to the decree): entry by order of 29 June 2013; Corrigendum concerning the registration of the aqueduct of the domain, including the valve allowing its intake at the Semainville mill: additions cad. C8, 10; under the departmental road 18; under the rue des Larris, the chemin des Cressonières and the rue des Moulins (Méréville commune), cf. plan annexed to the decree: inscription by order of 8 April 2015

Key figures

Pierre Delpech (1642–1712) - Marquis de Méréville Reconstructs the castle in the 18th century.
Jean-Joseph de Laborde (1724–1794) - Financial and Marquis Created the park in English and enlarged the castle.
François-Joseph Bélanger - Architect Designed the gardens before Hubert Robert.
Hubert Robert (1733–1808) - Landscape Retrieved the development of the park in 1786.
Augustin Pajou (1730–1809) - Sculptor Collaborated with interior and exterior decorations.
François d'Ormesson - Writer and activist Lutta for the protection of the domain (XX century).

Origin and history

The Château de Méreville came into being in the 16th century with the construction of a fortified mansion. In 1688, Pierre Delpech, Marquis de Méréville, acquired and partially rebuilt it in a Renaissance style, adding a pediment and a French garden. His descendants, including Jean Delpech, made changes until the 18th century, such as the development of an honorary path and the transformation of the gardens.

In 1784, the financier Jean-Joseph de Laborde, after having given up the Château de La Ferté-Vidame, bought Méréville to make it his residence. He modestly enlarged the castle with two wings and dedicated his fortune to creating an English park, collaborating with renowned artists: architects Barré and Bélanger, sculptor Pajou, or painter Vernet. Hubert Robert resumed work in 1786, adding factories such as the Temple of Piety subsidiary in tribute to his daughter Natalie. In the same year, the diversion of June and the construction of a rostral column commemorated his sons who had disappeared during the expedition to Perugia.

The Marquis, guillotined in 1794, left a domain that declined in the 19th century. His heirs sold the castle to d'Espagnac, who dispersed his wealth, and then to Carpentier, who destroyed several factories. In 1824, the Count of Saint-Roman added the Swiss farm, but the park gradually lost its radiance. In the 20th century, the Japanese pension fund Sport Chinko planned to set up a hotel complex there, before the departmental council of Essonne and the state bought the estate in 2000 to restore it. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1977, the park earned the remarkable Garden label in 2019.

The architecture of the castle combines a central Renaissance body in white stone, flanked by medieval towers, and classical wings added in the 18th century. The park, conceived as a total work of art, blended romantic landscapes, picturesque factories (groves, bridges, waterfalls) and rare botanical species, reflecting the passions of the Marquis for navigation, nature and travel. Despite the disappearance of some factories (transferred to Jeurre Park), it remains a major testimony of pre-revolutionary landscape gardens in Europe.

The interiors preserve original decorations: marbles, mahogany panelling, fireplaces and ice cream, protected by successive rankings since 1977. The domain, now departmental, is a preserved cultural and tourist site, illustrating the golden age of aristocratic madness and their enlivened posterity.

External links