CHATEAU ET JARDIN DE BOURNAZEL

Private Renaissance château listed as a Historic Monument. One of southern France's most significant buildings with its innovative architecture and remarkable carved decor. Its gardens are classified 'Jardin Remarquables'.

This beautiful Renaissance château, located between Rodez and Villefranche de Rouergue, was built between 1540 and 1560 and has been the subject of a major restoration campaign. In particular this has involved the restitution of the grand staircase, the core of which is composed of superimposed cabinets, with sculpted decoration identical to the original. On the main facade, windows, pilasters, columns, pediments and friezes are rigorously balanced, while on the other wing, references to antiquity are even more evident in the large arcades andtwin columns. Inside, visiters will be guided through an important collection of paintings, furniture and sculptures from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The garden is the result of extensive academic research and a campaign of archaeological excavations. The restoration offers a coherent reconstruction of a landscape realized between 1542 and 1561. Enclosed garden consits of nine parterres themed on the education of a wealthy prince and the enigma of life. The garden includes fountains, vases, polyandrion, a ‘garden of rooms' with partitions of hornbeam hedges, orchard, 'Hortus Conclusus', labyrinth, arbours, terraces and a formal basin. The combined symbolic, literary and intellectual organisation recalls the ambitions of the Renaissance. It has recently been classified as a 'Jardin remarquable'.

The interior of the château is by guided tour only.

Approximate duration: 1h.

Average time spent on site: 2h

Private guided visits are available year-round for groups of 20 or more.