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Origin and history

The castle of Viven finds its origins on a site occupied since Antiquity by a Roman domus, offered to an officer. In the 14th century, Barzun's family erected a manor house, replaced in 1576 by d'Arros, Huguenot lords. Bertrand of Arros, partisan of the Wars of Religion, partially rebuilt the home in 1608 for 9,000 books tournaments, before the estate passed into the hands of the Marquis Jean-César de Mesplès in the middle of the eighteenth century.

In 1756, the Marquis de Mesplès, president of the Parliament of Navarre, undertook the total reconstruction of the castle on medieval foundations, mobilising bearese artisans and crogots. Work was completed before 1793, when the couple fled the Revolution. The estate, sold after the death of the Marquise in 1807, would then be offered by Napoleon I to Jean de Navailles, treasurer of the West Indies, as a reward for his services during the capture of Guadeloupe in 1810.

In the 19th century, Jean de Navailles employed freed slaves for the maintenance of the estate, of which Louis called "the Negro of Viven" (1754–47), buried beside him — a rare case for the time. The castle, marked by woodwork and decorations from the 1750s–60s, became a place of reception for figures such as the cardinal of Astros or Pierre Loti. Ranked a historic monument in 1989, it has been restored since 1982 by the Graciet family, which opens it to the public.

The present building, organized around a two-storey, full house, preserves commons in "L", a basin restored in 1990, and gardens labeled "Remarkable Garden" in 2006. The dovecote, the vestige of the feudal castle, and the interior decorations (large living room, billiard room) bear witness to its prestige. The domain, always private, hosts visits, concerts and exhibitions.

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