Jardin des Cèdres

English translation

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History

From the 17th century, the site is cultivated around a built complex which remains isolated in the centre of Cap Ferrat until the end of the 19th century. In the 1850s, David-Désiré Pollonnais, mayor of Villefranche-sur-Mer, gradually acquires an essentially agricultural estate. He then has his villa rebuilt by the architect Sébastien-Marcel Biasini. At this same period, the first exotic species are introduced. In 1904, the King of the Belgians Léopold II acquires the villa which he renames Les Cèdres. Until 1908, he progressively consolidates the Pollonnais estate and even extends it to the North. He recruits the architect Aaron Messiah to remodel the villa and commissions in 1905 from Elie Lainé the creation of a landscape garden. The work is substantial (demolition of the farmhouse for the lake, construction of a stable doubling the initial building, etc.) and occupies the entire plain. In 1906, following the acquisition of a small estate to the North, Léopold II commissions Jules Vacherot with the North-East layout of the garden (lower garden, tea pavilion, Italian terraces, water steps). From the death of the king in 1909 until 1921, the estate is left abandoned, occupied only during the First World War by a Belgian military hospital. During his sole year of residence at Les Cèdres, in 1921, Ernest Cassel carries out substantial work on the villa and in the garden. He changes the access to the property which is henceforth made by the North and thus traverses the property as far as the villa. In 1924, Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle acquires the villa. He restores the existing structures and introduces statuary. He introduces various exotic species (creation of the Mexican garden in 1925) and selects species of seville orange trees for the manufacture of Grand-Marnier. Julien Marnier-Lapostolle takes over the management of the estate in 1928. His project is to create a botanical garden of exotic species covering the entire developed surface of the property. From the 1950s onwards, the botanical garden develops thanks to the construction of a scientific network to gradually achieve world-wide renown. The climate of the peninsula particularly favourable to acclimatization allows the establishment of species from all over the world. This characteristic promotes his relations with numerous botanists and explorers who are at the base of the enrichment of his collections (Werner Rauh, Peter Bally, Raymond Montagnac, John Lavranos, etc.). Later, this network extends also to institutions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew or the exotic garden of Monaco. The reputation of Les Cèdres is built on the one hand on its role as a conservatory of wild species (and not horticultural) cultivated in the open air, some of which are cultivated only at Les Cèdres, and on the other hand on its collections housed in the greenhouses. This explains why several species have been described thanks to the botanical garden (44 described at Les Cèdres) or in homage to Julien Marnier-Lapostolle (14 species bear his name or that of Les Cèdres). The greenhouses develop with the collections (constructions mainly during the 1950s and 1960s). They play a crucial role in the acclimatization of succulent plants which constitute one of the most important collections in the world. After the death of Julien Marnier-Lapostolle in 1976, the garden continues to evolve under the direction of his wife Suzanne. Guy Joulin redesigns in a landscape manner the aroid greenhouse (1988-1989) and the large tropical greenhouse (1993-1999). In 1998, the garden houses between 14,000 and 16,000 species.