The Château de Lourmarin is a converted castle located in the town of
Lourmarin
Lourmarin (; oc, Lormarin) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Lourmarinois''.
Geography
Lourmarin is located in the French region of Provence, at ...
which is situated in the
Vaucluse
Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of France.
Originally a 12th-century fortress, it was transformed in the 15th century by Foulques d'Agoult, chamberlain of King Rene I. of Anjou. After 1526 the castle belonged to Louis d’Agoult-Montauban and his wife Blanche de Lévis-Ventadour and the new annex made the building the first Renaissance building in the Provence Region.
Afterwards the castle became the residence of the Créqui-Lesdiguières family, who were the lords of Château de La Tour d'Aigues. Despite owning the castle, they never took residence in it, and this state of affairs continued until the beginning of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
.
After the Revolution, and despite having two more owners, the castle slowly descended into ruins.
Finally, in 1920, Robert Laurent-Vibert, a producer of cosmetics, bought the ruined castle and employed the architect
Henri Pacon
Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry.
People with this given name
; French noblemen
:'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.''
* Henri I de Montm ...
to restore it. In 1925, Laurent-Vibert died in a car accident. In his will he donated the castle to the Académie des Sciences, Agriculture, Arts et Belles Lettres under condition that it should be transformed into a trust, which would support young artists.
The castle was used for exterior shots in Julien Duvivier's 1939 film
The End of the Day
''The End of the Day'' (french: La fin du jour) is a 1939 French drama film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Victor Francen, Michel Simon and Louis Jouvet. It was shot at the Epinay Studios in Paris and on location around the city as w ...
.
See also
*
List of castles in France
This is a list of castles in France, arranged by Region and Department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are properly called palaces, mansions or vine ...