Château Pastré, Marseille, France

The Château Pastré, formerly known as the Chateau de Montredon, is a nineteenth-century building in the suburb of Montredon to the south of Marseille, France. Eugène Pastré (1806–1868) and his wife Céline de Beaulincourt-Marle (1825-1900) belonged to a wealthy family of Marseille shipowners and merchants. Between 1836 and 1853 the Pastré family accumulated 120 hectares (300 acres) of land between Pointe Rouge and the Grotte Rolland in the south of Marseille, which they made into a park.

The Parisian architect Jean-Charles Danjoy designed the Château Pastré, completed in 1862. The three-story building was designed to meet the needs of its owners for a place where they could hold entertainments for many people.

The chateau is located between the hills of Marseilleveyre and the Mediterranean Sea, with large windows looking out over the park. The exterior design is elegant and warm.[4] Jean Danjoy chose to design a reinterpretation of a building from the Louis XIII period. In the facade he blended bricks from Marseille with blonde stone from Arles. These meet in rhythmic curves and counter-curves.

Between 1966 and 1987, the city of Marseille bought almost all of the property. It had the Château Pastré carefully restored. Since 1995, it has housed the Faïence Museum, and displays more than 1,500 pieces crafted during a period spanning more than 7000 years.

The grounds are now a public park commonly known as the Campagne Pastré. Of this, 12 hectares are formally laid out with lawns, woods and two artificial lakes, while 100 hectares have more natural vegetation. The central avenue from the entrance to the chateau is over 900 metres long. Apart from the lakes, the park includes playgrounds, canal areas and hiking trails. The gardens are decorated with statues. From a steep hill, visitors have views of Marseille. The entire forested area of the park is part of the Calanques World Heritage Site.

References:

Wikipedia

Argos Theater

The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.

The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.

Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.

Anna Frid (7 months ago)
No access inside! Just a beautiful administrative building in a beautiful park.

Thomas Joannes (2 years ago)
A lovely place , somewhat unexploited. It's a little bit strange. Marseille is not doing anything with this place. Why ?

Anne-Marie Kovacs (3 years ago)
Park is ok though looks partially abandoned. Museums, which is what we came far are closed with no signs of life or of reopening anytime soon. Nice walk to the house which accounts for the two star rating.

Noyon Ahmed (3 years ago)
very nice

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