The future of D’Artagnan castle at stake: museum or private residence?

The castle of D’Artagnan, hero of the novel by Alexandre Dumas “The Three Musketeers”, Will it become a museum where the tourists or in the secondary residence of the president of a distribution giant?

The suspense remains intact. Located in the village of Lupiac in Gers (southwest France), this castle, which saw the birth of Charles de Batz de Castelmore at the beginning of the 17th century – whose life in the service of the crown of France would inspire the famous character of Alexandre Dumas -, It has been on sale for more than two years.

With 700 m2 of ocher façade, it is today in the middle of a duel between local communities – who dream of transforming it into a tourist and cultural center – and the president of the distribution giant Auchan Retail, Yves Claude, who plans to “a private housing project” of the property, a source close to the file informed AFP.

Public actors in the surrounding area hope to take advantage of the international fame of the royal musketeer to develop the territory.

In fact, the hero of Dumas’s novel remains popular in France as well. More than 3.3 million viewers watched the film “The Three Musketeers” released in spring, and the second, ““Milady” -on the billboards since the beginning of December- also fills the theaters.

In 2022, the Gers department had wanted to acquire the castle located about 120 km from Toulouse and valued at one million euros, its president, Philippe Dupouy, explained to AFP.

Originally from the region, the then French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, supported the initiative. But this failed because its owner demanded double the amount, in addition to important renovation work to be carried out.

Ambitious project

In 2023, the year of the 350th anniversary of the death of the musketeer, who fell during the siege of Maastricht (Netherlands), local, regional and state officials launched “Around D’Artagnan”, an association destined to give birth to a project “ambitious” for the castle, and they made a new purchase proposal during the summer.

But a surprise decision put an end to the enthusiasm of public actors. On December 19, the Gers Land Management and Rural Settlement Society (Safer) opted for another option.

This body, which has a preferential right over the castle due to the 150 hectares of agricultural land that surrounds it, was interested in the purchase proposal of the president of Auchan Retail, Yves Claude, who wants to convert it into his secondary residence.

Safer’s position falls “extremely bad” forks “very poorly understood here”, explains to AFP a local political actor who prefers not to be identified.

“It would really be a shame if assets of this type passed into the hands of the private sector,” laments Muriel Abadie, vice president of the Occitania region in charge of tourism.

“I am surprised that between a project of general interest for our territory and a private project, no matter how respectable it may be, Safer does not choose the project of general interest”deplores the local deputy, Jean René Cazeneuve.

In the departmental council, Philippe Dupouy questions the solidity of the community of municipalities project, “at this stage, apparently, poorly defined”according to him.

To maintain hope, public partners of “Around D’Artagnan” They cling to the fact that the procedure before Safer has not yet concluded, information that the organization confirmed to AFP, specifying that its decision process was “subject by law to confidentiality.”

According to a source close to the file, a final decision could resolve the case around January 22.