Château de Montmusard

History

The Fyot family bought Montmusard in 1639 and enlarged it over four generations. Claude-Philibert Fyot de La Marche created remarkable formal gardens and, in 1748, a kiosk with a flying table. His son Jean-Philippe laid the first stone of a new château in July 1765, following plans drawn by Charles De Wailly in 1763. The work seems to have been finished in 1769.

The cost ruined the owner. He resigned his office in 1772 and died that year, and the estate was sold. A later owner turned the park into farmland and dismantled much of the building, although some historians argue it was never completed. From 1867 the grounds were divided up, and in 1933 Dijon bought 45 hectares for a sports park. Only one wing survives, on less than three hectares.

Architecture

De Wailly's design was bold. Its heart was a circular domed salon, reached through a colonnaded peristyle adorned with statues by François Attiret of the four seasons and two Muses, with reliefs after drawings by François Devosge. Two large paintings by Jean-Baptiste Lallemand depict the château and its park. The surviving wing keeps decoration of the same quality as the rest of the original building.