“Castelmore Castle is for sale. Ten centuries of history: Will the residence of D’Artagnan, the hero of the Romanian masterpiece of the writer Alexandre Dumas “The Three Musketeers”, become a museum that will attract a large number of tourists, or a vacation residence for the CEO of a giant from the field of retail trade, AFP journalists ask.

Located in the village of Lupiac in the Gers department in southwestern France, this building, which was the early 17th-century home of Charles de Batz de Castelmore, whose life spent in the service of the French crown inspired the famous character of Alexandre Dumas, has been for sale for more than two years, writes Agerpres.

The 700 square meter château, with its ochre-fronted facade, is now at the center of a “showdown” between the local authority, which wants to turn it into a tourist and cultural center, and the CEO of retail giant Auchan, Yves Claude. A source familiar with the file told AFP it had “plans for a private residence” on the field.

Local authorities hope to use the international fame of the Royal Musketeer to develop the area. And throughout France, the hero of Dumas’ novel remains popular: 3.3 million viewers watched the film “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan”, which was released last spring, and the second part, “The Three Musketeers: Milady”, which has been in cinemas since the beginning of December also fills movie theaters.

In 2022, the department of Gers wanted to buy the castle, located about 120 km from Toulouse and valued at about 1 million euros, its president Philippe Dupuis told AFP.

Originally from the region, the then Prime Minister of France, Jean Castex, supported the initiative. But it did not work, because the owner of the building demanded double the amount, and the castle needs major repairs.

Storming the castle

In 2023, the 350th anniversary of the death of the French musketeer killed during the siege of Maastricht, local, regional and national officials refused to admit defeat: they launched the “Autour de d’Artagnan”, an association that aims to create “an ambitious » project around the proud Gascon, and made a new acquisition offer last summer.

But the unexpected decision dampened the enthusiasm of public figures: on December 19, the Société d’aménagement foncier et d’établissement rural (Safer) in Gery chose a different choice.

This authority has the right of way over the castle due to the 150 hectares of agricultural land that surrounds it. However, he expressed interest in a purchase offer from Yves Claude, CEO of Auchan Retail, who would like to turn the château into his second residence.

Private project

Thus, the local government was hit hard and is still looking for a way to respond. The finding, published by Safer, came at an “extremely bad time” and was “very poorly understood here,” a local politician who preferred to remain anonymous told AFP.

“It would be a shame if such heritage fell into the hands of the private sector,” laments Muriel Abadi, a politician from Gers and vice-president of the Occitanie region in charge of tourism.

“I am surprised that between a project of general interest for our region and a private project, however respectable it may be, Safer did not choose a project of general interest,” lamented local MP Jean-René Cazeneuve.

In the Council of the Department, Philippe Dupuy questioned the reliability of the project of the commune community, which, in his opinion, “is not very clearly defined at this stage”.

To keep their hopes alive, the project’s government partners are clinging to the fact that the Safer process is not yet complete, as Safer itself confirmed to AFP, but said its decision-making process “obeys the law in the face of the privacy rule.”

A final decision could be made around January 22, according to a source familiar with the acquisition document.