Château d'Arlay
Former convent of the Minimes, the U-shaped central building has been bought by the Lauraguais Countess, heiress of the fortress of the Orange Princes located on the hill which overlooks the present castle. This old convent became her residence: the Arlay climate was less hard than that of Nozeroy in the Upper Jura mountain where her castle was. Some ornamental elements were transferred from Nozeroy to Arlay. Madame de Lauraguais had two pavilions built on either side of the main building. She remodelled the park as well as the Horse Shoe Fountain and had the ice-box built. All these works were carried out around 1770 and lasted nearly 10 years.
During the Revolution, the furniture of the Castle was scattered around. In 1825, the property was taken over by the Prince Pierre d'Arenberg, grand-son of the Countess of Lauraguais. He called upon a talented furniture maker from Poligy (Jura) and ordered that all the pieces of furniture be made in light wood (walnut, beech, mottled maple): it still is admired by everybody. The authenticity of these pieces of furniture, in particular the "Girafe Bed" (the girafe was given to King Charles X by Mehemet Ali, Sultan of Egypt) bear testimony to the trends at the beginning of the 19th century.
|
Add this place to your selection
|
back 
