Château de Pignerolle

En un regard

Le château en bref

East of Angers, in the commune of Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou, the Château de Pignerolle is an elegant neoclassical country house set in a large park. The estate is documented from 1509; in the seventeenth century it passed to François Éveilard, mayor of Angers, and then to the Avril family from 1655. It was for them that construction of the present residence began in 1776, to plans by Michel Bardoul de la Bigotière, with the collaboration of the sculptor Pierre-Louis David. The main pavilion, measuring about 25 metres by 17, rises over two storeys and seven bays; its entrance is marked by four fluted columns with Ionic capitals. An orangery of 280 m², articulated by ten Ionic columns, completes the ensemble. The site's history is marked by the tragedies of the twentieth century: from 1939 to 1940, the Polish government in exile was based here, before the German navy requisitioned the estate, where a blockhouse still survives. Listed as a historic monument in 1961, the château now belongs to Angers Loire Métropole; it once housed a museum of communication and now hosts cultural events, including a garden competition.