Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

David's pavilion, also known as the temple of David, is a small neo-classical building built in 1785 in the park of the Castle of Epion (Yvelines). Designed by the painter Jacques-Louis David for Marie-Jean Hérault de Sscales, local lord and freemason, he embodies an exceptional Masonic heritage. His frescoes, including a representative Benjamin Franklin, make him a symbol of Franco-American friendship, Franklin having stayed there as ambassador of the United States.

Ranked a historic monument in 1947, the pavilion had a turbulent history: squatted and degraded, it almost disappeared despite its protected status. In 2014, the municipality of Épône launched a safeguard project, supported in 2017 by the Yvelines departmental council. The renovation works, completed in 2022, restored this witness to French political and Masonic history, where founding texts such as the Constitution of 1791 were also developed.

The monument is also linked to major figures of the French Revolution. Herault de Sscales, its sponsor, collaborated with Danton and Robespierre to draft the Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights. Later, in 1958, Michel Debré worked on the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, adding a modern dimension to his legacy. Its modest but symbolic architecture, and its Masonic decorations, make it a unique place in Île-de-France.

Located at the bottom of the Parc du château d'Épône, at Address 34 Allée des Biches or rue Pavée, the pavilion illustrates the intellectual exchanges of the eighteenth century. Its classification by decree of 28 August 1947 underlines its heritage importance, despite the damage suffered. Today restored, there remains an emblem of the links between freemasonry, art and political history.

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