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Origin and history

La Douëra is a Mozarab style house located 2 rue du Lion-d'Or in Malzéville, Lorraine. Built in the mid-19th century, it was profoundly altered around 1856 by Charles Cournault, a scholar passionate about the East. After his trips to Algeria, he transformed the family home into a Moorish villa, incorporating architectural and decorative elements inspired by Islamic art, such as a Byzantine portal, an Arab-Andalusian portal and a minaret tower.

Charles Cournault himself provided interior decoration, with murals, ceilings richly decorated with Arabic motifs, and objects reported from Algeria. The house remained in the family until 1986, when the city of Malzéville acquired it. A restoration campaign, carried out between 1989 and 1995, preserved its facades, roofs, and certain rooms, classified as historical monuments in 1993.

Since then, La Douëra has become a cultural centre led by the municipality and the association Les Amis de la Douëra. It hosts art exhibitions, intimate concerts (jazz, classic, song) in a 70-seat room, and houses a public library. Its architecture, combining Maghreb, Ottoman and Byzantine influences, makes it a unique testimony of 19th-century Orientalism in France.

The west facade, overlooking the Lion d'Or Street, features a Byzantine portal and an Arab-Andalou portal, while the east facade, facing the park, is decorated with a minaret tower to degrees, inspired by the Cairo mosques. Inside, the rooms preserve Berber chandeliers, an Ottoman dome and Arabic calligraphy, creating an exotic and refined atmosphere.

Charles Cournault's grandson, Étienne Cournault (1891–1948), moved there in 1930 to practice glass painting and engraving. Today, the monument, owned by the commune, perpetuates its artistic and cultural heritage, while offering a space of meeting and creation open to the public.

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