The Hôtel de Caumont is a listed

hôtel particulier An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Location

It is located at 1 rue Joseph Cabassol, in the

Quartier Mazarin The quartier Mazarin is a district in the centre of Aix-en-Provence, directly to the south of the cours Mirabeau, the principal boulevard in Aix. On the initiative of Archbishop Michel Mazarin, brother of the Cardinal Jules Mazarin and Archbisho ...

of Aix-en-Provence.

History

It was designed by architects

Robert de Cotte Robert de Cotte (1656 – 15 July 1735) was a French architect-administrator, under whose design control of the royal buildings of France from 1699, the earliest notes presaging the Rococo style were introduced. First a pupil of Jules Har ...

(1656–1735) and Georges Vallon (1688-1767), and built from 1715 to 1742 for François Rolland de Réauville de Tertulle, the Marquess of Cabannes. Sculptors Jean-Baptiste Rambot and Bernard Toro designed the

atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

. Inside, the entrance has an indoor fountain, with two sets of stairs: one for the family, and another one for the staff. The hotel was inherited by Jean-Baptiste-François de Tertulle, son of François Rolland de Réauville de Tertulle. Upon his death, his widow sold it to

François de Bruny de la Tour d'Aigues François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King o ...

(1690-1772). It was inherited by his son, the Marseilles shipowner (1724-1794), who served as the

Président à mortier The ''président à mortier'' () was one of the most important legal posts of the French ''Ancien Régime''. The ''présidents'' were principal magistrates of the highest juridical institutions, the ''parlements'', which were the appeal courts. ...

of the

Parliament of Aix-en-Provence The Parliament of Aix-en-Provence was the provincial ''parlement'' of Provence from 1501 to 1790. It was headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, which served as the ''de facto'' capital of Provence. History The region of Provence became a member of the ...

. He bequeathed it on to his son Marie Jean Joseph (1768-1800), who again passed it to his sister, Pauline de Bruny de la Tour d'Aigues (1767-1850), who had married Amable-Victor-Joseph-François de Paule de Seytres de Caumont (1764-1841), the Marquess of Caumont, in 1796. He was accused of "stealing the most beautiful hôtel particulier from Provence by this marriage," as a street sign outside the hotel suggests. The marriage was childless, and the hotel was bequeathed to one of Pauline's cousins. In 1964, General Isembart sold it to the city of Aix. They rented it out to La Poste, the postal service in France. From 1970 to 2013, it was home to a

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

, the Conservatoire Darius Milhaud. It has been listed as a monument historique since 1990.

At present

Hôtel de Caumont was purchased in 2013 by Culturespaces for €10 million. Over the next two years it underwent extensive refurbishing, and reopened to the public on May 6, 2015, as a paid attraction and cultural space, exhibiting sections of the house and garden as they were in their prime, along with a gift shop, art exhibition space, and a small theater.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel de Caumont Hôtels particuliers in Aix-en-Provence Monuments historiques of Aix-en-Provence Houses completed in 1742 Engie 1742 establishments in France