Château de la Mignarde

Château de la Mignarde
General information
Type Château
Address Route des Pinchinats
Town or city Aix-en-Provence
Country France
Completed 18th century
Owner Sabine Sechiari

The Château de la Mignarde is a listed château in Aix-en-Provence.

Location

It is located on the Route des Pinchinats on the Northern outskirts of Aix-en-Provence.[1][2]

History

It was built in the eighteenth century.[2][3] The facade has twenty-seven windows.[2] The drawing-room sports a wallpaper which was hand-painted, representing fields of rice in China.[2] Throughout the garden, there are ponds and sculptures.[3]

Jean-Joseph-Pierre Pascalis (1732-1790), a supporter of the monarchy, was hiding in this chateau when he was arrested in and killed during the French Revolution.[4] A few decades later, in 1807, Pauline Bonaparte (1780–1825), sister of Napoleon (1761-1821), had an affair with Louis Nicolas Philippe Auguste de Forbin (1779-1841) in this chateau.[2][3] During her stay, she asked her staff to silence the frogs and cicadas with long poles.[5]

It later belonged to the inventor of mignardises, a small petit four.[1] His son, Sauveur Mignard, remodelled it.[3] In 1858, it was purchased by Émile Rigaud (1824-1890), who served as the Mayor of Aix-en-Provence from 1849 to 1863.[1]

It still belongs to one of Émile Rigaud's descendants, Sabine Sechiari, who founded the non-profit organization Association des bastides et des jardins de Provence et du Sud-Est (English: "Association of bastides and gardens of Provence").[1] It has received funding for its restoration from Vieilles Maisons Françaises, a non-profit organization for the restoration of old buildings in France.[1]

Heritage significance

It has been listed as a monument historique since 1995.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Dannery Letizia, Les Sechiari, L'Express, 14/11/2002
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dominique Auzias, Jean-Paul Labourdette, Aix-en-Provence, Le Petit Futé, 2013
  3. 1 2 3 4 Aix-en-Provence official website
  4. ↑ Charles de Ribbe, Pascalis : Étude sur la fin de la Constitution provençale, 1787-1790,Dentu, 1854, p. 256
  5. ↑ Martin Garrett, Provence: A Cultural History, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 107


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