Photo : Manuel Munoz 1963 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Château de Val-Seille
The Château de Val Seille, at Courthézon in the Vaucluse, was built by Élie Dussaud, engineer to Ferdinand de Lesseps. It has every appearance of a neo-Renaissance château. In 1952 the commune bought it to house its town hall, now counted among the fine town halls of France.
The park, restored and reopened in January 2001, combines pools and fountains, grottoes and cascades, rose gardens, a palm grove, trees and local plants. Wild ducks and swans live on the river that runs through it, and an open-air theatre hosts the Estivales de Val Seille in summer: music, theatre, singing and shows. Entry to the park is free.
Some rooms can be visited on request at the Maison du tourisme et du vin: the picture gallery, where the town council meets, with its panelling, allegorical paintings and portraits, its ceiling on which Alfred Casile depicted the ports built by Élie Dussaud, and the winter garden.
