Château de Marcellus, Historical castle in Marcellus, France

Château de Marcellus stands on a height above the Garonne Valley in Lot-et-Garonne. The present building, finished in October 1775, has a U-shaped plan with a main block and two one-storey pavilions, built in ashlar stone with a long-pitched roof of tiles. The photograph shows pale stone walls, a row of framed windows on the upper storey, a central pediment and two chimneys.

A first castle stood here in the 14th century, possibly built by the d'Albret family, lords of Marcellus since 1383. In 1581 Henri de Navarre sold the fortified castle to Aymeric de Gasq, a counselor at the Bordeaux parliament, whose family held it until the early 18th century. Around 1600 it was rebuilt, leaving an equestrian portrait of Henri IV on a chimney. In 1773 Richard-François Bonfin drew plans for Count André Joseph de Martin du Tyrac; mason Joseph Cazade dit Jolycœur began work in October 1773 and finished in October 1775, demolishing the old castle except its basement levels.

The equestrian portrait of Henri IV on a chimney breast recalls the 1581 sale of the fortress by Henri de Navarre to Aymeric de Gasq. The 18th-century paintings were completed in 1775 by the painter Joseph Antoine. One of the former entrance pavilions was converted into a chapel, the other into a library.

The castle, its entrance pavilions and outbuildings were listed as a monument historique on 29 August 1986. The site is privately owned by the SCI du château de Marcellus, so it is not open as a public museum; visits must be arranged in advance with the owners.

The 1773-1775 rebuilding by architect Richard-François Bonfin reused materials from the demolished older castle, keeping only the basement storeys. The surviving old pavilions were then converted, one into a chapel and the other into a library, and a terrace on arcades joined the two northern pavilions in 1772.