Mas de Brau
ManorHidden Treasure
Mas de Brau, located in Mouriès (Bouches-du-Rhône), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Manor
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Mouriès, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 43.6905, 4.8609
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00081386
Tucked away in the Alpilles plain, the Mas de Brau is a 16th-century Provençal manor house with understated Renaissance features; a rare example of the aristocratic rural architecture of La Crau, it is listed as a Historic Monument.
History
In the heart of the Mouriès commune, at the gateway to the Crau plain and set against the mineral backdrop of the Alpilles mountains, Mas de Brau boasts the discreet elegance of a 16th-century Provencal manor house. Neither an ostentatious château nor a simple farmhouse, it occupies that singular category of noble rural residence, refined enough to bear witness to its rank, yet rooted enough in the land to remind us that its destiny has always been linked to the farming of inland Provence. What makes Mas de Brau truly distinctive is the rarity with which it has been preserved. While most of the aristocratic farmhouses in the region have been altered over the centuries, transformed, extended or sometimes abandoned, this one has retained an architectural coherence that amply justifies its double protection - listed in 1932 and classified in 1938. Its massed layout, balanced volumes and sculpted details typical of the Southern Renaissance make it a first-rate architectural document for anyone interested in the history of noble housing in Provence. The visit is first and foremost an immersion in the landscape. Approaching the mas means walking through olive groves that could date back to antiquity, along low walls of dry stone gilded by the sun, smelling the pungent scent of wild thyme as the mistral sweeps across the plain. The farmhouse stands out in its environment with a natural gravity, as if it had always belonged to this luminous limestone landscape. Mouriès itself is a place of exceptional quality: ranked as one of Provence's most famous olive oil-producing communes, the town organises an olive festival every autumn that attracts visitors and gourmets alike. Mas de Brau is perfectly in keeping with this deep-rooted identity, that of an authentic, rural Provence, far removed from the tourist excesses of the coastline. For visitors curious about history, architecture and nature, it's a must-see.
Architecture
Mas de Brau is a typical Provencal Renaissance manor house, typical of the noble buildings of the first half of the 16th century in the hinterland of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. It has a compact, massed layout, organised around a main building flanked by farm outbuildings that form a coherent whole, typical of these farms where noble and peasant life coexisted under the same authority. The load-bearing walls are probably made of local limestone rubble, the white to golden stone so characteristic of the Alpilles, which gives the buildings of the region their unique luminosity. The openings - mullioned or transomed windows - bear witness to the Renaissance influence that spread throughout Provence during the 16th century, blending southern Gothic sobriety with new antique-inspired decoration. It is likely that there is an elaborate entrance portal, moulded frames and perhaps a sculpted coat of arms, features that are almost systematic in noble manor houses of this period and this region. The low-pitched roof, in keeping with southern tradition, was probably covered with terracotta canal tiles, the universal roofing technique used in Provence since Roman times. The architectural ensemble reflects an economy of means typical of Provençal architecture: no excessive ornamentation, but real attention to the quality of the ashlar in the main features - surrounds, cornices, quoins - which clearly distinguishes this manor house from a simple farmhouse.
Related Figures
René Ier d'Anjou — dernier comte indépendant de Provence, dont la mort en 1481 précède l'édification du mas dans une Provence intégrée au royaume de FranceFamille noble fondatrice (inconnue) — commanditaire présumé de la construction au XVIe siècle, appartenant à la petite noblesse terrienne provençaleInspecteurs des Beaux-Arts (années 1930) — auteurs de la décision de protection, ayant reconnu la valeur architecturale de l'édifice
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Mas de Brau located?
Mas de Brau is located in Mouriès, Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France.
When was Mas de Brau built?
Mas de Brau dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Mas de Brau open to visitors?
Mas de Brau is currently closed to visitors.