VIDEO – Under the impetus of Édouard Guyot, the young owner of the Château de Vaux in Champagne, the titanic restoration project mobilized around forty companies from the Aube department for ten years.
At the age of 22, Édouard Guyot bought the ruined Château de Vaux-en-Champagne. Ten years later, the Grand Trophée Dassault Histoire et Patrimoine, organized by the Fondation Mérimée, Le Figaro Magazine, and Propriétés Le Figaro, recognized his remarkable restoration work. The young owner breathed new life into this 17th-century building, which had been completely abandoned. Today, visitors flock to it, and the audacious gamble of “saving this forgotten masterpiece of heritage” is on the verge of being won.
Prizes and awards
Three major awards were presented at the Hôtel de la Païva in Paris on Thursday, October 16th. This ceremony highlighted a passion for heritage and remarkable human endeavors. The Grand Trophy for Monuments, awarded to the Château de Vaux, comes with a prize of €100,000. The Grand Trophy for Gardens, awarded to the gardens of Conteval (Pas-de-Calais), comes with a prize of €60,000. Finally, the Jury’s Choice Award went to the Valmagne Abbey (Hérault), with a prize of €40,000.
A full report on the Château de Vaux, its 300 years of history, the rescue of the ruined castle, the eventful stages of its restoration, and a portrait of the passionate and tenacious Édouard Guyot, can be found in the Figaro Magazine dossier by Ghislain de Montalembert, with photographs by Eric Sander.
The video about Vaux Castle
The jury, whose honorary president is Marie-Hélène Habert-Dassault, is chaired by Alexis Brézet, editorial director of Le Figaro. It is composed of experts and enthusiasts of heritage: Benoît Bassi, Stéphane Bern, Antoine Courtois, Frédéric Didier, Dominique Flahaut, Jacques Garcia, Jean de Lambertye, Yves Lecoq, Olivier Marin, Jean-Louis Remilleux, Jean-René Van der Plaetsen, and Bertrand du Vignaud.
The editorial team recommends
