En un regard
Le château en bref
In the Saulx valley, south-east of the Marne near Vitry-le-François, the Château de Bignicourt-sur-Saulx is a rare example in France of architecture inspired by the Venetian villas of Palladio. It was built from 1807 to 1812, under the First French Empire, by Jean-Baptiste Barbat de Bignicourt, a former hussar officer and mayor of the village. The new residence replaced an 18th-century château, itself erected on the remains of a feudal castle. Its neoclassical volumes, of great sobriety, sit within an English landscape garden of some fifteen hectares. The estate also retains a dovecote, a bread oven and a chapel. The château and these outbuildings are listed as monuments historiques, and the park is registered, which attests to the coherence of the whole. The château is privately owned and opens its doors to the public during the European Heritage Days.