Château de la Solitude

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de la Solitude is a ruined château situated in a wooded park in the commune of Le Plessis-Robinson. It is in fact a neo-Gothic castel with a ground area of 480 square metres, featuring a central inner courtyard (originally covered by a ribbed vault of glass brick). It was built in 1903 by a wealthy Parisian chocolate manufacturer, François-Philibert Marquis. It was then used as a convalescent home, where René Viviani stayed, and as a residence for a community of Carmelite nuns. It was subsequently bought back by the French State, which turned it into a technical college for young unmarried mothers, closed in 1973. In 2016, the film “Elles... Les Filles du Plessis” told the story of these young unmarried mothers and their living conditions. In 1977 and 1987, fires ravaged it. The writer Raymond Radiguet used it as the backdrop for his novel Le Bal du comte d'Orgel (published posthumously in 1924). The park surrounding these ruins is the property of the French State but is managed by the Hauts-de-Seine General Council. It is mainly composed of oak and sweet chestnut trees and is home to a few wild animal species.