Ille-sur-Têt: the beginning of an adventure with the opening of the Mérimée . space

The Count’s house retained the last chandelier, the rose-marble gate, the rows of windows, its cobbled inner courtyard, and its staircase. It was owned until 1807 to Don Joseph de Ardena Darnius, then sold to Jérôme Viader. It is outdated by history, and has undergone some modifications, as Maurice Ichi notes in Issue 31 of Notebooks for Elle’s old friends : “Darnius’ house has unfortunately been divided into five pieces by Jupiter Jerome Viader”. One of these pieces was occupied by Mrs. Verges de Ricudi and Mrs. Seradel. Here now lives Julien Selva, who renovated the house with the idea of ​​opening a cultural space called Espace Mérimée, in honor of the author Vénus d’Ille, who planted in this house his home decor. the new. A project taking shape with the exhibition of the artist Isa Hebrard, which will be held in Espace Mérimée in Friday 11 to Sunday 27 November, At the invitation of the Association Espace Mérimée.

“It is a cultural space that will not be limited to painting, but will also open to music, conferences, and culture in the broad sense,” Julian Silva says: Why Espace Meriem? “The Count’s house is a historical monument. One of the first tasks of Prosper Mérimée, Inspector General of Historic Antiquities, led him to Ille and the Vénus d’Ille is made in this house. There is a connection. This project is part of everything I do. It is another tool. At the moment , 70 sq.m is available and finally we plan 300 sq.m. It is a birth. It is the beginning of the adventure of this house that I took back two years ago […] The ultimate goal is to give the house a luster and make the rooms the same as they were in 1650. The more searches, the more one discovers […] The house is a full square of 650 square meters, with an inner courtyard of 150 square meters. You develop pieces all over the yard. It is a symmetrical, simple house and a series of square or rectangular rooms”.

An architecture suitable for entrepreneurship, such as last August with the Agro-Scientific and Literary Society of the Oriental Pyrenees and the Society of Le temps du costume roussillonnais, on the theme “Ille and Roussillon in the Romantic Age”, with the complicity of Clarisse Riquena, Sylvain Chevucci, Laurent Foncerny and a troupe of extras in costumes Period. The day that gave weight to the Espace Mérimée project.

first date Friday 11 November 6:30 p.m., for the opening of the Isa Hebrard Gallery.