LE CASINO ET SON ARCHITECTURE

The Casino de Luchon was built in 1880 by the architect Raymond Castex, based on a design by Edmond Chambert. For its time, it was one of the most successful in France.
In a classical style, the building consists of a main body, flanked by 2 wings, and a façade 100 metres long. Its eclectic Second Empire architecture is characterised by the polychromatic use of brick and stone. With the arrival of the railway in Luchon, it was now easy to have materials delivered from afar. It was a palace of pleasure, where no expense was spared in terms of space or proportions: the superb Napoleon III theatre, concert halls, restaurant, gaming rooms and lounges alternated in styles ranging from Moorish to modern. Until 1925, the Casino housed the Museum’s collections in the lounges on the 2nd floor.
Henri Martin modernised the façade in 1929 in the Art Deco style, using dynamite to replace the majestic stone staircase with a large glass gallery overlooking the terraces and gardens.
A host of artists performed at the theatre: Sydney Bechet, La Belle Otero, Sacha Guitry, Charles Trenet, Stéphane Grappelli and, at the end of the 50s, it hosted the Golden Voices Tournament on several occasions. More recently it has been frequented by Michel Galabru, and the many artists who come every year to present their films at the Festival des Créations Télévisuelles de Luchon. The Casino is home to the Luchon village hall, which was completely renovated in 2006 and now bears the name of Henry Pac, a poet and writer who was an emblematic figure of Luchon.
On the edge of the esplanade is the “Pavillon Normand”, built for the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900 and then brought to Luchon at the request of Paul Bonnemaison, Mayor from 1894 to 1912. It is made up of half-timbered walls, false cement bricks and a flat tile roof supported by a colossal 20th-century framework, the work of journeymen carpenters.
Around the park, at number 10 Boulevard Edmond Rostand, is the Villa Julia, built in 1880. It was here that Edmond Rostand spent the first 22 years of his life, writing the poems “Les Musardises”. Its wooden balcony is said to have inspired the author of the famous balcony scene in Cyrano de Bergerac. It was for health reasons that Edmond Rostand left Luchon for Cambo in the Basque country. In a letter to his friend Henry de Gorsse, he wrote: “I will never return to Luchon because… I have been too happy there…”.
As you walk along the Boulevard de Gorsse along the banks of the Pique, you come across a succession of villas. First of all, the romantic villa Le Pigné, with its turrets, was home to Sacha Guitry and Yvonne Printemps when they came to Luchon to take the waters. Next, the Villa Santa-Maria (difficult to see from the street) is the former residence of Princess Narishkine, a Russian aristocrat and wife of Alexandre Dumas. Further on is the Villa Raphaël, where Clémenceau stayed in the 1900s. It was later occupied by Mata Hari and housed the Gestapo during the Second World War. On the right bank of the Pique, the Russian and Persian chalets, dating from 1860, were the residence of the princess’s mother. This combination of 2 architectural styles, neo-classical and picturesque, is representative of the eclecticism fashionable in the last century.
At the end of the boulevard is the Hospice Ramel (Villa Bertin), where Prince Napoleon stayed in 1867. This very Second Empire residence was also designed by Chambert.
On the Place Lézat, the Hôtel Majestic, built in 1880, was for many years an annex of the Toulouse hospitals. The statue of François 1er and his sister Marguerite stands in the middle of the roundabout. It was created by Jean-Baptiste GUILLAUME in 1905.
On the other side of the Parc du Casino, at the corner of Place Richelieu and Avenue Boularan, the 2 twin houses were Gustave Flaubert’s place of residence when he came to Luchon. Along the boulevard Charles Tron, the Villa Luisa dates back to 1870. The princely family of Monaco stayed here, and Prince Rainier spent some of his childhood summers here, presiding over the flower festival in 1930. To the rear, the former stables have been converted into detached houses. You can recognise them by the horse’s head overhanging the façade.
A little further on, the Pyrénées Palace, designed in 1911 by Edouard Niermans, is a former hotel that has now been converted into flats. To enable hotel guests to get to the Casino in complete safety, an underground tunnel linked the 2 establishments.