Alphonse de Lamartine’s library
A Tour of the Castle
The tour of the Saint-Point includes the kitchen, the 18th century dining room, Alphonse de Lamartine’s bedroom and the study, his personal secretary’s office, as well as the Lamartine Museum.
Installed in the ground floor’s living room, the museum displays the poet’s personal objects and memorabilia, preserved by his niece, Valentine de Ciessat.
A Neogothic Castle
As a medieval building restored in the XIX century by Alphonse and Marianne de Lamartine and turned into an English neogothic castle, Saint-Point is one of the few examples of this architectural style in France.
The tour goes through the south wing of the castle and the pavilion added by Alphonse de Lamartine in 1853. On the ground floor you will find the dining room and the Lamartine Museum, and on the first floor you will find the poet’s study, his bedroom and the office of his secretary.
Alphonse de Lamartine’s bedroom and study are listed as Monuments Historiques, furnished and preserved as they were originally.
The pavilion added by Alphonse de Lamartine
The Lamartine Museum
The poet’s family museum was constituted by his niece Valentine de Cessiat, who inherited the Saint-Point castle after the death of Alphonse de Lamartine.
It is located on the ground floor’s great living room, listed as a Monument Historique, lit up by four big windows and French windows that open to the outdoor park. In three glass cases, personal objects and memorabilia evoke his family, his travels, his muses, sources of poetic work and his political career.
Lamartine and politics
His Personal Secretary’s Office
The office of Alphonse de Lamartine’s personal secretary
On the second floor, accessible up a stairway built within the tower, one finds the former office of the poet’s personal secretary, where an ensemble of Lamartine’s first editions of his work has been gathered, to trace his long literary career, his massive success and the critical fortune he received.
The Poet’s Bedroom
In his adjoining bedroom, where beautiful Cordou leather is outstretched on the walls, objects and pieces of furniture still seem to await the poet’s return. Between a drawing made by Marianne de Lamartine of his daughter Julia and the portrait of Pierre de Lamartine, one can find the chimney “of the poets.”
Alphonse de Lamartine’s bedroom
The Study
The study, a genuine monk’s cell with an arched ceiling, is entirely covered with striped cotton cloth. Lamartine found in here solitude, silence and the necessary quiet for his inspiration to emerge.
The pieces of furniture have remained in the same place: desk, writing desk, small bookshelves, and family portrait. This study is lit up by a narrow French window, which opens to the terrace where the poet contemplated the beautiful valleys in the distance that kept the tomb of his beloved deceased.
Alphonse de Lamartine’s study
The Saint-Point castle has been granted the “Maison des Illustres” label by the French Minster for Culture and Communication.