Château de Cirey-sur-Blaise

Château de Cirey is best known as Voltaire?s place of residence from 1734 to 1749, at the invitation of his friend Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet. A mathematician and physicist, she is considered the most brilliant French woman scientist of the 18th century.
It was here that Émilie wrote her "Dissertation sur la nature et propagation du feu", the first work by a woman to be published by the Académie royale des Sciences (1739). She published "Les Institutions de physique" (1740), then set to work on her major work: the French translation of Newton's "Principes mathématiques de la philosophie naturelle".

The château is also a fine 17th-century edifice, left unfinished and remodeled in the mid-18th century by the Marquise du Châtelet and Voltaire. Classified as a Historic Monument and awarded the "Maisons des Illustres" label, the château is a privately-owned, furnished and inhabited property, open to the public on a guided tour, where you'll discover a refined décor: salons, Emilie du Châtelet's bedroom, large dining room, library, kitchens and a unique venue, Voltaire's little theater.
You can also explore the château's gardens. The first garden, created in the 18th century by Voltaire and Emilie du Châtelet, is currently being renovated. Hedges of hornbeam, fruit trees and an avenue of lime trees are gradually emerging from the earth to redesign, in a more contemporary spirit, the lines of this vanished landscape.

The second picturesque garden, created in the 19th century, takes advantage of the relief and borders the canal. It was partly designed by landscape architect Count Paul Lavenne de Choulot. Here, you'll find some very fine trees, including centuries-old plane trees, a charming hunchbacked bridge and, a curiosity, the chalet-like cladding of the former home of Voltaire and Emilie du Châtelet?s gardener.

Tours of the château are guided only. Guided tours depart at 2.30pm and 4.30pm (duration approx. 1h15), see the table below for times and days of the year open to visitors.