Villa La Palestine, Neo-Moorish villa in L'Estaque district, Marseille, France.
Villa La Palestine is a Neo-Moorish villa located in the L'Estaque beach district of Marseille, built between 1902 and 1905. It features a two-story observatory tower with superimposed loggias, decorative arches, and ornamental tiles covering the Mediterranean-influenced exterior.
The property was built between 1902 and 1905 for textile merchant Pierre Leclerc as a residential mansion. A local masonry firm called Olive Frères carried out the construction without an architect overseeing the project.
The rooms inside display wall paintings and ceiling decorations inspired by Islamic art, showing how early 1900s French tastes favored oriental aesthetics. These ornamental details reveal what appealed to wealthy homeowners during that period.
The villa is privately owned, so visitors cannot enter the building, but the exterior can be viewed from the public street facing the beach. The property received historical monument protection in 1993 and remains recognizable for its distinctive tower and ornamental details.
The villa's design originated from a model displayed at the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition, particularly inspired by the Turkish pavilion designed by René Dubuisson. This connection links the home to the international artistic trends of that world fair.
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