Type Chateau Opened 1591 | Completed 1591 Phone +33 4 42 17 34 00 | |
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Similar Château de la Calade, Georges‑Carcassonne Stadium, Aix‑en‑Provence Festival, Touloubre, Église Saint‑Jean‑de‑Malte | ||
The Château du Grand-Saint-Jean is a listed chateau in Puyricard, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.
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Location
It is located in Puyricard, a former village now part of the city of Aix-en-Provence, in Provence. It is located 30 kilometers away from the centre of Aix. It can be accessed via the Chemin du Grand-Saint-Jean.
History
The construction of the first chateau and the chapel began in the eleventh century. In 1564, King Charles IX of France (1550-1574), Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589) and Henry IV of France (1553-1610) visited the chateau.
The current chateau was built from 1583 to 1591 by Antoine Laurens and Esprit Boyer. In 1622, King Louis XIII of France (1601-1643) visited the chateau. Four decades later, in 1660, King Louis XIV of France (1638-1715) was also a guest.
In 1933, Blanche d'Estienne de Saint-Jean, the heiress to the estate, donated the chateau and its grounds to the city of Aix-en-Provence.
Since the 1990s, an outdoors theatre has been one of the venues of the Aix-en-Provence Festival. In 2013, Portuguese composer Vasco Mendonça created an opera based at the Château du Grand-Saint-Jean. It is called, The House Taken Over.
Heritage significance
It has been listed as a "monument historique" since November 3, 1975.