Bisi

Bisi's flaxen possession , which belonged to the de Blard family in the Middle Ages , passed into the Joubert family in the 14th century.

In 1675, Michel-Andre Jubert de Beauville, State Advisor and Quartermaster of Orleans, achieved the elevation of his seigneur to the rank of marquise and began the construction of the first estate, which had an elongated shape and covered with roofing slate. The structure on the sides was flanked by two higher pavilions, and two porches were built in front of it. The complex in plan resembled a horseshoe.

In 1721, the Duke de Belle-Ile (1684-1761), the grandson of the disgraced minister Fouquet , to whom the county of Gisore, with the lands of Les Andelys and Vernon , inherited from the king in exchange for the island of Belle-Ile, took over the estate.

Having received the title of Marshal of France in 1741, the Duke expanded his estate and began large-scale construction in Bizi, after which Bizi became known as the "Norman Versailles". He created a semicircular terraced front courtyard, paved the avenue des Capucins avenue , connecting the estate with the River Seine , arranged a "small park" and a "hunting park".

The 57-year-old duke, inspired by the Palace of Versailles , decided to rebuild the castle and, by his order, the architect Pierre Contan d'Ivry built an external courtyard with stables for 60 horses, similar to Versailles, and a figured wash basin between 1741 and 1743. horses .

On September 21, 1749, King Louis XV visited Marshal along with Madame Pompadour .

After the death of the duke in 1761, the Bisi estate, like the whole county of Gisor , was returned to the king, who a year later, in 1762, transferred it to Count d'E (1701-1775) in exchange for the sovereign principality of Domb . The count was the grandson of the “ sun king ” along the lines of legalized bastards. The 60-year-old Earl had funds to maintain a garden in Bizi, but was not rich enough for new construction. He died in 1775 without offspring, and bequeathed the estate of Bisi to his cousin, Duke de Pentèvre , son of the Count of Toulouse , the youngest of the legitimate sons of King Louis XIV and Madame Montespan , who was the largest landowner in France of that era, after the king.

Beginning in 1783, the duke often visited Bisi with short visits, and since 1792 the estate became his favorite residence, where he settled with his daughter, the Duchess of Orleans , whose husband Philip Egalite was elected to the National Convention that year. A year later, the Duke de Pentevre died in his bed at the estate of Bizy. He was highly respected among the local population and former vassals ^[1] .

Chateau Bizi was confiscated in 1797 as national property and sold at auction to buyers who destroyed the main building for the resale of building materials.

In 1805, the estate was bought by General Le Suire; he ordered the construction of a "country house", a more modest dwelling, in the northeastern part of the estate.

In 1817, the Duchess of Orleans bought out her property lost during the French Revolution , including the Chateau of Bisi. She passed away in 1821 and Bizi was inherited by her son, the future king Louis-Philippe I. He restored the old buildings, added two wings, set up a landscape park and planted many trees. He often visited the castle of Bizi, sometimes using the railway, a branch of which was commissioned in Vernon in 1843. Thus, the castle of Bizy became one of the "royal residences" of France.

In 1858, all possessions of the Orleans House were confiscated by Emperor Napoleon III . Bizi was bought at a public auction by Protestant Fernand de Schikler (1839-1909), a young heir to a family of Prussian financiers. His sister Malvina (1822-1877) was the wife of the mayor of Vernon , Louis Napoleon Suchet (1813-1877), the Duke of Albufera. Schickler since 1902 headed the Society for the History of France and was a founding member of the Society for the History of French Protestantism .

In 1860, Schickler commissioned the architect William Heinrich White (1838-1896) to rebuild the central part of the residential building in the classicist style with pronounced Italian motifs. In the new project, the influence of the Roman palace of Albany was felt, as well as "the union of the styles of Louis XIV and Louis XVI, inspired by the Small Trianon and Compiegne Palace , as well as the mansions of Parisian Place Vendome " ^[2] .

This underrated British architect, who settled in Paris and then in Calcutta, was the author of several projects, becoming in 1878 the secretary of the Royal Institute of British Architects .

The main living room of the residential building received a set of wood paneling, which is considered the most striking example of the transition from the style of Louis XIV to the style of the Regency. These panels were brought here from the castle of Bercy , the owner of which, the Marquis de Nicholas, sold its decor and decorative elements before the demolition of the castle in 1861.

Schickler bequeathed Bisi to his great-grand nephew Louis-Joseph Suchet, the fourth Duke of Albufera, who built two side wings, completely surrounding the curdonier ; in the far wing nowadays lives one of the six daughters of the fifth duke of Albufera.

The main residential building was rebuilt from carved stone in 1860. Its flat roof is fenced with a balustrade . The facade facing the garden has a porch with columns, and the main facade has a covered gallery on the ground floor and the upper floors are decorated with pilasters .

Both wings covering the front courtyard were built at the beginning of the 20th century. Corner pavilions built in the 19th century; their attic roof is covered with slate. The stables are decorated with lucarnes .

The surviving original buildings include magnificent stables, as well as most of the gardens with many intricate fountains designed by architect Pierre Kontan d'Ivry.

In 1994, Bizi's architecture attracted director Yves Angelo , who shot several scenes of Colonel Chabert , starring Gerard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant .

• Official site of the Chateau de Bizi