Château de Bouges
Encyclopedia
Bouges-le-Château
Bouges-le-Château is a commune in the Indre département in central France.-References:*...
, in the Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
département of France, in the Loire Valley
Loire Valley
The Loire Valley , spanning , is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France. Its area comprises approximately . It is referred to as the Cradle of the French Language, and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke, asparagus, and...
. It is classified as a monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
and the gardens are listed by the Ministry of Culture as among the Notable Gardens of France
Notable gardens of France
The Remarkable Gardens of France is intended to be a list and description, by region, of the over two hundred gardens classified as "Jardins remarquables" by the French Ministry of Culture and the Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France...
. The château and gardens are open to the public.
History
The château was built in 1765, probably by Ange-Jacques GabrielAnge-Jacques Gabriel
Ange-Jacques Gabriel was the most prominent French architect of his generation.Born to a Parisian family of architects and initially trained by the royal architect Robert de Cotte and his father , whom he assisted in the creation of the Place Royale at Bordeaux , the younger Gabriel...
, on lands acquired by Charles-François Leblanc de Manarval, the master of the royal forges and the director of the royal manufacturer of cloth in Châteauroux
Châteauroux
Châteauroux is the capital of the Indre department in central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called Castelroussines or Castelroussins....
. The château was modeled after the Petit Trianon
Petit Trianon
The Petit Trianon is a small château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France.-Design and construction:...
at the Palace of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
. In 1818, the château became the property of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the former foreign minister of Napoleon Bonaparte. Talleyrand put it at the disposition of his niece and, according to rumors, his one-time mistress, Dorothée de Courlande (1793-1862), who held successively the titles of Comtesse Edmond de Périgord (1809), Duchesse de Dino (1817), Duchesse de Talleyrand (1838) and finally Duchesse de Sagan (1845). She was also owner from 1828 à 1847 of the Château de Rochecotte
Château de Rochecotte
The château de Rochecotte is a late 18th century château located in the French village of Saint-Patrice, near Langeais, in Indre-et-Loire. It is known for its various owners and their many successive rebuilds....
at Saint-Patrice.
In 1917, the château was purchased by Henry Viguier and his wife, Renée Normant, who restored it, decorated and refurnished it. Viguier was the président-directeur-général of the Paris department store Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville. In addition to the château, he owned a Paris town house on the avenue Foch, a manor house in Houlgate
Houlgate
Houlgate is a small tourist resort in northwestern France along the English Channel with a beach and a casino. It is a commune in the Drochon Valley, in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region.-Pre-19th century:...
and a villa in Grasse
Grasse
-See also:*Route Napoléon*Ancient Diocese of Grasse*Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department-External links:*...
. The Viguiers, who had no children, left the house and its furniture to the French state in 1968.
The château and the park were location scenes in the film Le Colonel Chabert
Le Colonel Chabert (1994 film)
Le Colonel Chabert is a 1994 film directed by Yves Angelo and starring Gérard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant, and Fabrice Luchini...
with Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
and Fanny Ardant
Fanny Ardant
Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant is a French actress. She has appeared in more than fifty motion pictures since 1976. Ardant won the César Award for Best Actress in 1997 for her performance in Pédale douce.-Early life:...
.
The château has a park of eighty hectares, which include a landscape garden, an arboretum, a floral garden created in 1920, large greenhouses, and a formal French garden. It also includes large stables which were later used as garages by the last owners.
External links
- Official site of the château
- Photos of the gardens, from the site of the French National Committee of Parks and Gardens
- Ministry of Culture listing for Château de Bouges
- Ministry of Culture photos of the château
- Ministry of Culture listing for the gardens