Logo Musée du Patrimoine

All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

Uvarium à Moissac dans le Tarn-et-Garonne

Uvarium

    20 Avenue de l'Uvarium
    82200 Moissac
Ownership of the municipality
Crédit photo : Maarten Sepp - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1900
2000
1930
Tarn Crue
octobre 1932
Establishment of SIUM
1er mai 1933
SIUM-ville contract
20 août 1933
Opening of the station
10 septembre 1933
Inauguration of the Uvarium
2 juillet 1935
Uval Stations Act
7 août 1936
Moissac official uval station
années 1960
Transformation into a performance venue
8 janvier 2020
Registration for historical monuments
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The uvarium, in whole, excluding the pergolas and the fence wall, as delimited in red on the plan annexed to the decree, sis 20 avenue de l'uvarium (cad. public domain not cadasté): inscription by decree of 28 January 2020

Key figures

Armand Rouanet - Monthly doctor Initiator of the Uval City Project.
Roger Delthil - Mayor of Moissac Political support for the Uval project.
Joseph Thillet - Departmental architect Probable designer of the Uvarium and urban plan.
Germain Olivier - Departmental architect Collaborator of the 1930 urban planning plan.
Édouard Domergue-Lagarde - Decorative painter Author of interior and exterior decorations.
Paul Marchandeau - Minister of Finance Present at the inauguration of 1933.

Origin and history

The Uvarium de Moissac is a kiosk built in the 1930's on the banks of the Tarn, designed for the tasting of the Moissac Chasselas. It was part of an ambitious project of a therapeutic uval station, inspired by the grapes then popular in Europe. The building, in Art Deco style, was to host cures where visitors consumed grapes and juice, taking advantage of the supposed virtues of these products.

The project is led by Dr Armand Rouanet, a local doctor, who wants to make Moissac a reputable uval city. After the devastating flood of the Tarn in March 1930, the city was rebuilt according to an Art Deco urban plan, including the Uvarium. The Société Immobilière et Uvale de Moissac (SIUM), founded in 1932, is committed to building a hotel, casino, tennis and a grape juice factory. The Uvarium, inaugurated in September 1933, is decorated by the painter Edward Domergue-Lagarde.

Despite its classification as a state-owned resort in 1936, the project declined after World War II. The Uvarium, originally dedicated to cures, became a venue for shows in the 1960s before building a restaurant. The pergolas, added in 1936-1937, and the interior and exterior decorations still bear witness to his therapeutic past. The site is listed for historical monuments in January 2020.

The uval cure, a trend in Europe since the 19th century, was intended to treat by the consumption of grapes. Moissac, thanks to his famous chasselas, hoped to attract an affluent clientele, such as Swiss or Italian stations. However, the economic crisis of the 1930s and the war slowed its growth. Today, the Uvarium remains a symbol of this time when medicine, tourism and architecture blended to promote well-being through grapes.

The building, owned by the municipality, illustrates Art Deco architecture and visionary urban planning of the 1930s. Its recent inscription as a historic monument underscores its heritage importance. The decorations of Domergue-Lagarde, the pergolas and the rotunda recall its primary use, between health, leisure and grape trade.

External links