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With the Académie des Sciences in
2013 - 2014
Abbadia castle observatory
Antoine d’Abbadie (1810-1897) was an explorer, geographer,
linguist and astronomer. His castle was built by Viollet-le-
Duc up above Hendaye, in the Department of Pyrénées-
Atlantiques, between 1864 and 1884. It was then bequeathed
by its owner to the Académie des Sciences, of which he was a
member, and now hosts an astronomic observatory, which has
remained operational until 1976. A listed historic monument,
the castle has been the object of a vast restoration programme
from 1997 to 2008. Benefitting from the label
Maisons des
illustres
since 2011, the castle is now managed by the
Hendaye Tourist Information Centre, according to the terms of
a service concession arrangement. Partnership agreements
on joint educational activities have been concluded in 2014
with the Rectorat of Bordeaux and the CPIE (Permanent Centre
of Initiatives for the Environment)
Littoral basque
.
Ry-Chazerat Estate
Adolphe Godin de Lépinay (1821-1888)
is the often unknown designer of the
Panama Canal as it was finally built after
the failure of operation led by Ferdinand
de Lesseps. An engineer from the École
des Ponts et Chaussées, he was also
behind the maps of many railway lines
in France and Algeria. He bequeathed
his Ry-Chazerat manor house and lands
to the Académie, in the commune of
Journet, in the Vienne Department. In
2013, the Académie ratified a partnership
framework-convention with the Conseil
Général de la Vienne [Council of the
Vienne Department] and the communes of
Journet and Montmorillon. The same year,
in April, as part of the “FuturS en Vienne”
Seminar Series, a conference was held by
Académie Member Georges Pelletier on the agriculture of the future faced with the challenge to feed the world. The Académie des
Sciences has also taken part to the Salon du Livre de Montmorillon [Montmorillon Book Fair] during the mid-June weekends of 2013
and 2014. It presented there a good number of its publications (Lettre de l’Académie, books, reviews, etc.) and Bernard Meunier,
its Vice-President, gave a lecture on the place of books under the sway of the Internet. Moreover, an application for the Ry-Chazerat
manor house to receive the
Maisons des illustres
label is underway.
© DR
© OT Hendaye - P. Laplace