Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château Perrier, built between 1852 and 1857 in Épernay for the merchant Charles Perrier, embodies the development of the champagne trade in the 19th century. Designed by the architect Eugène Cordier, it blends styles neo-Louis XIII and Italian Renaissance, with polychrome facades in brick and stone. Its strategic location, near the Paris-Strasbourg line and the Royal Way, reflects its central economic role for Perrier-Jouët House, founded in 1811.

Upon the death of Charles Perrier in 1878, the castle passed to his nephew Henri Gallice, who added an equestrian statue, Le Veneur, and transformed the places into a space dedicated to hunting. During the two world wars, he served in turn as a military hospital (1914-1918), a headquarters for the British, German and American armies (1939-1945), and was leased by the Royal Air Force. These occupations leave traces, like Italian inscriptions.

Acquired by the city of Epernay in 1943, the castle became a municipal museum in 1956, housing collections of art, archaeology and winemaking, under the impulse of the museumographer Georges-Henri Rivière. After closing in 1998 for security reasons, in 2021 he reopened as the Champagne Wine Museum and Regional Archaeology, with a modern scenography highlighting local geology, wine history, and collections of the Belle Époque. The garden, once awarded for its exotic greenhouses and rose gardens, completes this heritage.

The architecture of the castle, inspired by Parisian private hotels, is distinguished by its four facades with various styles, its monumental carved decorations (realized by Michel-Victor Cruchet), and its luxurious interiors, like the large marquetry salon. The cellars, historical for the development of champagne, and the elevator installed in 1877 (one of the first privates in France) testify to its innovation. The castle thus illustrates the social success of the Champagne traders, like the houses of the Veuve Clicquot or the Rothschilds.

The present museum offers an immersive journey in four sections: regional geology (the role of chalk), archaeology (recent fields), history of Champagne wine (technical and know-how), and 19th century donor collections. Digital tools (virtual reality, touch screens) and models make the tour interactive. Labeled Musée de France, it also preserves prehistoric artifacts, decorative arts, and ethnographic objects from Asia, Africa and South America.

External links