Bastide dite Campagne Bruguier ou Campagne Coustoulin
MonumentHidden Treasure
Bastide dite Campagne Bruguier ou Campagne Coustoulin, located in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 43.5419, 5.4669
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00080976
Élégante bastide provençale du XVIIIe siècle, la Campagne Bruguier conjugue le raffinement de l'art de vivre aixois et la sérénité des paysages de la campagne autour d'Aix-en-Provence.
History
Nestling in the Aix countryside, the bastide known as Campagne Bruguier - or Campagne Coustoulin - is a striking testimony to the Provencal art of living at its apogee. Built in the second half of the 18th century, it soberly and elegantly embodies the model of the bourgeois country house that the great families of Aix-en-Provence loved to escape the summer heat of the city, without ever sacrificing comfort or prestige. What sets Campagne Bruguier apart from the countless bastides dotted around Aix-en-Provence is the remarkable balance between its restrained architecture and its place in the landscape. The residence is part of an architectural tradition that emphasises the symmetry of the facades, the play of shadows in the painted shutters and the French or Italian garden compositions typical of aristocratic and bourgeois residences in the enlightened South of France. A visit to the bastide offers an authentic insight into the intimacy of the parliamentary aristocracy and the upper middle classes of Provence during the Age of Enlightenment. The interior volumes, the layout of the rooms and the decorative details - stuccowork, gypseries, Salernes tiles - reveal a mastery of the ornamental codes of the period. Attentive visitors can still see the desire of its patrons to combine discreet splendour with a gentle way of life. The natural setting contributes fully to the charm of the place. The surrounding countryside, bathed in Provençal light and scented with lavender and pine trees, forms a green setting that makes the bastide much more than just a heritage building: it's a veritable art of living set in the pale stone of the Pays d'Aix. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1984, the Campagne Bruguier is now protected as a fragile and precious heritage that must be passed on to future generations.
Architecture
La Campagne Bruguier is in the canon of the classic Provencal bastide as it developed in the Aix region in the 18th century. The sober, symmetrical main facade is organised around a rectangular main building with two storeys and a ground floor, covered by a low-pitched genoese roof - the cornice of canal tiles laid in staggered rows that is such a distinctive feature of southern architecture. The light ochre or straw-yellow renderings, typical of the golden stone of the Pays d'Aix region, give the building the luminous warmth immediately recognisable from Provencal homes. The composition of the façades follows the principles of classical regularity: regular spans of windows with painted wooden shutters, often in dark green, framed by moulded ashlar architraves. A monumental entrance gate, sometimes crowned with a triangular pediment or profiled cornice, marks the axis of symmetry of the residence and signals the social dignity of its owners. The interior, organised around a central vestibule distributing the rooms in a row, respects the hierarchy of reception areas and private flats characteristic of the bourgeois residences of the Ancien Régime. The estate probably includes outbuildings - sheds, stables, servants' quarters - set back from the main building, as well as a garden laid out in terraces or geometric parterres, in the tradition of French gardens adapted to the topographical constraints of Provence. Columnar cypresses, avenues of plane or hackberry trees and overflowing ponds generally make up the plant vocabulary of these landscaped ensembles, which architecturally extend the residence into its natural surroundings.
Related Figures
Famille Bruguier — probable commanditaire ou propriétaire ayant donné son nom à la bastideFamille Coustoulin — second nom associé à la campagne, attestant une succession de propriétaires notablesNoblesse parlementaire aixoise du XVIIIe siècle — milieu social dont est issu le commanditaire de l'édificeArchitectes anonymes de la tradition provençale — maîtres d'œuvre locaux façonnant le canon de la bastide aixoise
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Bastide dite Campagne Bruguier ou Campagne Coustoulin located?
Bastide dite Campagne Bruguier ou Campagne Coustoulin is located in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France.
When was Bastide dite Campagne Bruguier ou Campagne Coustoulin built?
Bastide dite Campagne Bruguier ou Campagne Coustoulin dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Bastide dite Campagne Bruguier ou Campagne Coustoulin open to visitors?
Bastide dite Campagne Bruguier ou Campagne Coustoulin is currently closed to visitors.
