The Castle of Marracq (french: château de Marracq) is a ruined 18th-century castle in

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlanti ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It has been an official

Historical Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

since September 27, 1907. Since 2012, the ruins have been under renovation because of intense erosion, due to the lack of roof, that caused a risk of collapsing. The walls have been cleansed, the stones and keystones have been repaired or replaced.

History

The castle was built in the early 18th century by

Maria Anna of Neuburg Maria Anna of Neuburg ( es, Mariana; 28 October 1667 – 16 July 1740), was a German princess and member of the Wittelsbach family, who became Queen consort of Spain in 1689 as the second wife of Charles II, last Habsburg King of Spain. Her m ...

, Queen of Spain in exile. However, she never resided in the castle as she preferred her residence of Saint-Michel. On May 19, 1808,

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

bought the castle from brothers Aaron (1758-1827) and Abraham (1773-1840) Marqfoy. He resided there and the castle became one of his imperial palaces. During his stay in Bayonne, he did not reside at the '' Château-Vieux'', preferring the comfortable Castle of Marracq. In 1808, the abdication of the Bourbons of Spain in favour of Neopleon I was signed in the Castle of Marracq. Then Napoleon installed his brother

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

on the throne of Spain. Upon the Bourbon Restoration, the castle remained empty. The army settled there in 1823, but the castle was devastated by a fire in 1825. Now a classified Historical Monument, the castle is the property of the Bayonne town council. The is located northeast of the castle.

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Marracq Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century 18th-century establishments in France Bayonne Monuments historiques of Nouvelle-Aquitaine Imperial residences Napoleon