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Origin and history

The castle of Merville, located in the department of Haute-Garonne in Occitanie, is an exceptional testimony of architecture and 18th century gardens. Built between 1743 and 1759 on plans dictated by the Marquis Henri-Auguste de Chalvet-Rochemonteix to the architect Maduron, it embodies the spirit of the Enlightenment with its pink brick facade and its park designed by Le Nôtre. Its 6 km maze of boxwood, the largest in Europe, and richly decorated living rooms, such as the Chinese Salon decorated with panels painted by Gilles Pin in 1754, reflect the refinement of the period.

The estate, inherited by André-Antoine de Chalvet in 1772, escaped destruction during the Revolution thanks to its owner, imprisoned but spared. Passed by inheritance to the families of Villèle and then Beaumont du Repaire, the castle retains its original furniture and decorations, including 16th century Flemish tapestries. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1987, it combines a U-style architecture with a terrace overlooking a 40-hectare park, where geometrical perspectives and nature blend together, illustrating the ideal of the country houses of the Lights.

The park, designed according to the principles of Le Nôtre, organizes around straight paths of boxwood and oaks, punctuated with star-shaped roundabouts leading to a ballroom. The great prospect of 600 meters visually extends the castle lounges, creating continuity between interior and exterior. The maze, which has been open to the public since 2005, attracts 45,000 visitors annually, while the gallery of paintings houses portraits of the lords of Merville, perpetuating the memory of the local noble families.

The building, characteristic of the art of building brick in the Toulouse Midi, is distinguished by its central hemicycle forebody and triangular pediment. Inside, the enfilade of chamber pieces, centered on an octagonal living room with exotic decorations, reveals the influence of 18th-century Chinese factories. The walls covered with tapestries of Flanders and the paintings of Gilles Pin, inspired by Parisian engravings, testify to the taste for Orientalism and decorative art of the time.

Ranked with its 18th century park and cooler, Merville Castle remains a private property, preserving a unique architectural and landscape heritage. Its history, linked to the Chalvet, Villèle and Beaumont du Repaire families, makes it a symbol of the Toulouse nobility and its adaptation to political upheavals, from the Old Regime to the present day.

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