Parc et Grotte de Majolan

English translation

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History

Castle purchased in 1862 by Joseph Prom and rebuilt on that occasion. At the end of the 19th century, the castle is transformed into a luxurious residence. The landscape designer Le Breton designs, on the former marshes, a romantic park embellished with a body of water, and planted with exotic species. Bridges, rockeries and false ruins connect banks and islands. In the 1880s, a set of false grottos and canyons is established near the arrangements of the old mill. The grottos open at the end of the vast body of water excavated below the castle. The coursing of rubble stone maintained by metal cramps sealed and rendered with hydraulic lime offers a trompe-l'oeil creating the illusion of natural grottos. This large building houses different galleries in the form of labyrinths and leading to small rooms. One of them, with a floor covered in mosaics, opens onto the body of water and served as a landing place. Another preserves the locations of the old aquariums arranged in the walls. At the upper level, a narrow gallery extended by a footbridge leads to a belvedere decorated with mosaics and bricks and furnished with benches.