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Origin and history

The Château du Petit Lude, built in 1645, was commissioned by Gaspard de Daillon du Lude, bishop of Albi and art lover. Intended to replace the Château de Combefa as a secondary residence of the bishops, it became a refined palace nicknamed the Petit Versailles, with French gardens and orangery. When he died, the bishop left his name there, while the Berbie remained the main residence.

In the 18th century, the cardinal of Bernis, archbishop of Albi, favoured this place before the Revolution split the property, sold as national property in 1792. One part will briefly house the Imperial School of Pastel (1811–14) under Napoleon I. In 1826, Charles Brault, former bishop of Bayeux, bought him back to settle, together with the Sisters of the Good Saviour of Caen, a school for deaf mutes and an asylum in 1836.

Transformed into a psychiatric hospital (Fondation du Bon Sauveur d'Albi) in 1982, the estate, now covered with modern buildings, preserves original remains such as cellars and ten pedestals with urns. The neoclassical chapel of 1846 and a pastel washhouse bear witness to its history. The set, once spread over 8 hectares, illustrates the evolution of an episcopal palace into a medical institution.

The original architecture, in bricks and white stones, is partially reconstructed in a style close to the original. Despite the demolitions, the site keeps a trace of its past fascist, linked to the influence of the Albigois bishops and to the social history of the region, notably through the school of Pastel and the asylum of the nineteenth century.

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