Château de Girard

En un regard

Le château en bref

In the heart of Mèze, on the shores of the Étang de Thau, the Château de Girard is a classical mansion built in 1660 outside the town walls. Its patron, Simon Muret, had built his fortune on viticulture; as a creditor of the community, he also acquired the office of first municipal magistrate. Around him revolved an influential family: his brother Pierre governed Mèze, and his nephew Jean-Jacques became a counsellor at the Cour des aides of Montpellier in 1743, then governor of the town in 1760. Lacking a direct male heir, the house changed name several times as the property passed from hand to hand: Château Muret, then de Borie, Ronzier and finally Girard, after the last family to have lived there. Its lands once extended down to the étang, and the neighbouring district still preserves nineteenth-century wine-growers' houses with broad carriage arches. Bought back by the commune in 1995, the mansion now houses municipal departments in an annex of the town hall; its park is open to the public, and the site hosts cultural events.