The Château de la Napoule is a restored French castle, located in Mandelieu-la-Napoule

Mandelieu-la-Napoule

Mandelieu-La Napoule is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France, located on the French Riviera just to the southwest of Cannes and northeast of Théoule-sur-Mer....

 in the Alpes-Maritimes

Alpes-Maritimes

Alpes-Maritimes is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.- History : was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum and subsequently at Embrun...

 Department of France, It is classified as an historical landmark since 1993, and the gardens are listed by the French Ministry of Culture as among the Notable gardens of France

Notable gardens of France

The Remarkable Gardens of France is intended to be a list and description, by region, of the over two hundred gardens classified as "Jardins remarquables" by the French Ministry of Culture and the Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France...

. It was featured as one of the main locations in the 1999 movie Simon Sez

Simon Sez

Simon Sez is a 1999 action comedy film starring Dennis Rodman, Dane Cook, and John Pinette. The score for this film was composed by Brian Tyler.-Plot:Interpol agent Simon goes on a mission in France to save a kidnapped girl and defeat an arms dealer....

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History

The castle was constructed in the 14th century by the Countess of Villeneuve. Over the centuries it was rebuilt several times. In the 19th century it was turned into a glass factory. In 1918, it was purchased by two Americans, Henry Clews Jr. and Marie Clews (1880-1959), who restored and moved into the castle, and added additional sections in their own personal style, with sculptures by Henry Clews Jr. The castle is owned by the La Napoule Art Foundation, which was founded in 1951 by Marie Clews, and serves as a cultural centre.

After Henry's death and during the second world war the castle was captured by German soldiers, Marie Clews served the soldiers by acting as the maid of the castle's staff so she could stay close to her home and the memory of her husband Henry.

The Gardens

When the Clews acquired the castle, the park had cedar and eucalyptus trees, and had been abandoned for years. Marie Clews began the restoration of the gardens. The park of the castle today has elements of a garden à la française

Garden à la française

The French formal garden, also called jardin à la française, is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order over nature. It reached its apogee in the 17th century with the creation of the Gardens of Versailles, designed for Louis XIV by the landscape architect André Le...

 and of an English landscape garden,with a grand alley, basins, perspectives, and views of the sea. In addition, there are three smaller gardens in the Italian style: the Garden de la Mancha next to the Tower of La Mancha, under which the mausoleum of the Clews family is located; the terraces which overlook the Bay of Cannes

Cannes

Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....

, which are planted with cypress trees, hedges and rosemary; and the secret garden, in a corner of the walls with windows looking at the sea, with a Venetian well in the centre.

Sources and Citations

This article is an edited translation from the French Wikipedia, with additional information from the site of the Committee of Parks and Gardens of the Ministry of Culture of France

Minister of Culture (France)

The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...

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External links

• Site of the Chateau de la Napoule
• 360 Panorama Images of the Chateau de La Napoule