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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Divers
  3. Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur
  4. Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
  5. 04210 Valensole

  6. Domaine Le Clos de Villeneuve

Domaine Le Clos de Villeneuve à Valensole dans les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Domaine Le Clos de Villeneuve

    143 Chemin de l'Amiral Pierre Sylvestre de Villeneuve
    04210 Valensole
Private property
Museums of France
Miscellaneous
Photo de Domaine Le Clos de Villeneuve
Crédit photo : MERLEJP - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
1624
Land inheritance
1676
Development of water mines
1804
French-Spanish Fleet Command
1ère moitié XVIIIe siècle
Construction of the bastide
2018
Registration for Historic Monuments
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The following parts of the Le Clos de Villeneuve estate: the seven water mines masonated or dug in the substrate, the architectural outfalls: fountains, reservoirs, wash, terrace retaining walls, the soils of the plots, with the exception of its vegetal cover, the basement comprising the underground hydraulic network, the catchment areas and the visiting wells of the water mines, located at Le Clos à Valensole, as delimited in red on the attached plan (Box F 207, 208, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 1954): inscription by order of February 1, 2018.

Key figures

Jean-Baptiste de Villeneuve - Lord of Esclapon and builder Founded the bastide in the 18th century.
Hercule de Villeneuve - Land heir (1624) Launched the first water mines.
Hercule II de Villeneuve - Hydraulic system developer Work continued in 1676.
Pierre Charles Silvestre de Villeneuve - Vice-Admiral of Napoleon Owner and tragic figure of Trafalgar.
André de Villeneuve - Descendant and restorer (1990s) Renovates gardens and terraces.

Origin and history

The Clos de Villeneuve is a Provencal bastide built in Valensole between the end of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century. Built by Jean-Baptiste de Villeneuve, seigneur of Esclapon, it is part of an ancient family line, attached to these lands since at least 1624, when Hercule de Villeneuve inherited estates of his sister Isabeau de Rochas. The site is distinguished by its sophisticated hydraulic system, composed of seven water mines (subterranean processes) created in the 17th century to supply basins, fountains and washhouses, still active today.

The garden, structured on three successive terraces, incorporates elements from the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, renovated in the 1990s by André de Villeneuve, descendant of the first owners. These developments are based on an underground hydraulic network, originally designed for an earlier bastide attested in 1624, and developed by Hercule II de Villeneuve in 1676. The mines capture and redistribute water, illustrating Provencal ingenuity in resource management.

The property is inseparable from the Villeneuve-Esclapon family, whose most famous member, Pierre Charles Silvestre de Villeneuve (1765–1806), vice-admiral under Napoleon, returned between his naval campaigns. His fate was marked by the defeat of Trafalgar (1805), for which he was held responsible. Despite this tragedy, the estate remained in the family, preserving its architectural and landscape heritage. In 2018, hydraulic elements and terraces were listed in the Historic Monuments, recognizing their outstanding heritage value.

The gardens of the Clos, labeled Remarkable Garden, combine historical heritage and contemporary restorations. Their current, though recent, scheduling respects the traces of old developments, such as retaining walls and architectural outfalls (fontaines, basins). The site thus bears witness to the durability of Provencal hydraulic techniques, while embodying the evolution of a noble residence throughout the centuries.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum