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Abstract:

In the life and work of French writer and essayist Charles Maurras (1868– 1952), born in a Provençal town Martigues (Dept. Bouches-du-Rhône), ancestral estate Chemin de Paradis (Way to Paradise) occupied a very special place. Thinking the estate as his familial as well as the quintessence of his “small motherland” (Martigues) Maurras filled the garden with historical relics and designed the memorial architectural composition La Mur des Fastes (Wall of Glory) as its semantic center. The estate became one of Morras’s major works, which is why he, being imprisoned after the Second World War, took care of its preservation for next generations as public treasure, in what the society Les Amis du Chemin de Paradis (Friends of Chemin de Paradis) played an important role. The article explores for the first time the museumification of the estate which Maurras bequeathed to the city of Martigues. Converted first into a private museum, the estate was lately handed over to the city after long and difficult negotiations. Now this is a municipal house-museum temporarily closed for public.