Manor of Affry and studio of the sculptor Marcello

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Manoir d'Affry in Givisiez is one of the two ancestral residences of the d'Affry family in this village near Fribourg. The present manor, whose main doorway lintel bears the date 1539, is attributed to François I d'Affry and his wife Élisabeth de Clery, and remains a typical example of Fribourg Renaissance architecture; the north wing dates from 1578–1580 according to dendrochronology. Around 1644 a Baroque intervention added the half-timbered gallery, and the great salon was decorated around 1660 by Benedikt Michael Vogelsang of Solothurn. In the 19th century the estate passed by marriage to the de Boccard family. The name Marcello refers to Adèle d'Affry (1836–1879), sculptor and Duchess Colonna di Castiglione, who spent her childhood in Givisiez. After 1880 the manor housed religious congregations, was raised by one storey in 1907, then served as a clinic and convalescent home before being listed as a heritage site in 1973, bought by the municipality in 1982 and restored in 1987–1990.