Château de Baronville
Encyclopedia
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
in France near the town of Béville-le-Comte
Béville-le-Comte
Béville-le-Comte is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.It is the world capital of scarecrow. A celebration is organised every two years.-Population:-References:*...
, Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers.-History:Eure-et-Loir is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790 pursuant to the Act of December 22, 1789...
.
It rises in the center of a vast park anchored with several lakes. The château was built for grand receptions during the Second Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
and hosted many prestigious guests. The harmonious architecture of the building is the result of a union between spaciousness and refinement in the classical style.
The palace can be visited in group visits and can be rented exclusively. At Baronville, you may celebrate your wedding, hold a seminar or a business meeting, launch a product, or use for a photo shoot or film setting.
From the Roman Empire to the Counts de Rougé
Nowadays' Baronville is the third château built on the same place.The name Baronville dates back to the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. It was at this time that the place was called Baronis Villa, meaning ‘house of the baron’, itself a title held by ‘hommes forts’, who were charged with the protection of the empire's borders. In the Middle Ages, the château was a fortified manor house, of which there still remains a significant part of the drainage
Drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from an area. Many agricultural soils need drainage to improve production or to manage water supplies.-Early history:...
system, the foundations and cellars. Local legend has it that the Pucelle d’Orléans, or Saint Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
, saved Baronville and the surrounding countryside from English occupation during the Hundred Years War.
Between 1620 and 1623, a Louis XIII château was built on the same site by Claude de Montescot and his son, Jacques.
In 1783, the d’Aligre family bought Baronville. Originally from Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
, this family had already given two great chancellors of France and Gardes des Sceaux: Etienne Ist, marquis d’Aligre, Chancellor of France from 1624 to 1635, and Etienne II, marquis d’Aligre, Chancellor from 1674 to 1677. Etienne François, marquis d’Aligre and count de Marans spent a considerable part of his fortune in restoring the château and its former gardens.
The property of the d’Aligre family, as well as their name and titles, were transferred by marriage to the noble house of the marquess of Pomereu by royal command on 21 December 1825. Armand, marquis de Pomereu d’Aligre, destroyed the second château in 1867 and commissioned the architect Léon de Sanges to design the present château, which was finished in 1868. The same talented workers worked on the roofs of Baronville, of the Mont-St-Michel (France) and on the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
in New York (USA).
During the World War I, Catherine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Viscountess de Pomereu d'Aligre, set up a military hospital on the estate. During World War II, Field-Marshal Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus was an officer in the German military from 1910 to 1945. He attained the rank of Generalfeldmarschall during World War II, and is best known for having commanded the Sixth Army's assault on Stalingrad during Operation Blue in 1942...
made his headquarters in Baronville, and several other German units (including the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
) occupied the Château. After decades of restorations of the park and the palace, it could be rented for exclusive events since 1980.
The Estate is now home of the Count and Countess de Rougé (see House of Rougé
House of Rougé
The House of Rougé is a family of the French nobility, documented since the 11th century, originally coming from the locality of Rougé in Brittany. Their line descends from Rivallo IV of Brittany, himself the son of Saint Salomon, King of Brittany...
), since the last Pomereu d'Aligre of this line married Count Claude de Rougé.
Famous guests
Among other famous guests, Baronville hosted RonaldoRonaldo
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima , commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. Ronaldo is widely considered to be the greatest 'pure' striker in the history of the modern game, and by some accounts, in the history of football. Ronaldo was one of the...
, Audrey Tautou
Audrey Tautou
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, Alessandro Nivola
Alessandro Nivola
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, Daniela Cicarelli
Daniela Cicarelli
Daniella Cicarelli Lemos is a former TV show hostess for MTV Brasil and a fashion model. She was engaged to Brazilian footballer Ronaldo for three months in 2005....
, Roger Hanin
Roger Hanin
Roger Hanin is a French actor , best known for playing the title role in the 1989-2006 TV crime series, Navarro.-Personal life:...
, Benoît Poelvoorde
Benoît Poelvoorde
Benoît Poelvoorde is a Belgian actor and comedian who often associates cynicism, humour and drama in his movies.His mother was a grocer and his father a driver, who died when Poelvoorde was still young...
, Prince Jean of Luxembourg
Prince Jean of Luxembourg
Prince Jean of Luxembourg was born on 15 May 1957 at Betzdorf Castle, the second son of Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. He is the twin brother of Princess Margaretha. His godparents are Prince Felix of Luxembourg and Princess Margrethe of Denmark...
, Anne Fontaine, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, Marie Gillain
Marie Gillain
Marie Gillain is a Belgian actress.In 1996 Gillain received the Prix Romy Schneider. She is single but has two daughters, Dune and Vega .-In popular culture:* She was the heroine of the John Malkovich play Hysteria in Chicago on December 1999.* She...
, Sir Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Mr. Pierre Salinger
Pierre Salinger
Pierre Emil George Salinger was a White House Press Secretary to U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson...
, Michel Galabru
Michel Galabru
Michel Louis Edmond Galabru is a French actor born on 27 October 1922 in Safi, Morocco.-Career:Over the course of his career, Galabru appeared in over 200 movies and worked with such renowned directors as Bertrand Blier, Costa-Gavras, Luc Besson , and Jean-Luc Godard...
, French actor, Emperor Bảo Đại
Bảo Đài
Bảo Đài is a commune and village in Lục Nam District, Bac Giang Province, in northeastern Vietnam.-References:...
, 13th and last emperor of Vietnam, Charlotte Casiraghi
Charlotte Casiraghi
Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi is the second child of Caroline, Princess of Hanover, Hereditary Princess of Monaco, and the late Stefano Casiraghi, an Italian industrialist. She is fourth in line to the throne of Monaco...
, Philippe Séguin
Philippe Séguin
Philippe Séguin was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010....
, as well as a considerable number of French ministers, international diplomats and many others.