CHATEAU ET OBSERVATOIRE D'ABBADIA

  Zoom in the North of Hendaye on the Basque ledge, a park designed by the landscape painter Eugène Buhler who ends on cliffs and ocean, a house designed as a scientific laboratory: here is the Castle Abbadia. It is built between 1864 and 1879 at the request of Antoine d' Abbadie, ethnologist, astronomer, big traveler and vocal advocate of the Basque culture. Master of work is Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, an architect among whom it is here one of the rare creations.Gothic Revival, the Castle Abbadia reflects the Orientalist passion of his owner. Richly decorated and colored with references to Ethiopia, cross its hallway with the main staircase, the lounge and the room realized for Napoleon III, the chapel and the bookcase, among which the scientific works.