Brief summary of the city of God. Treatise “On the City of God”

Hugo's novel Les Misérables vividly depicts important aspects reality. It is impossible to read this work indifferently, where we are confronted with deep themes: humanity and cruelty, the suffering of the poor and the grief of the rich, as well as hypocrisy, lies and callousness. The action takes place in France at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Due to lack of education and poverty, the child’s suffering will also be shown.

The author describes a long and difficult life path convict Jean Valjean, the changes that happened to him, changing his outlook on life in general. Everything in his life always turned out very sadly, until a certain time. But, there comes a period in his life when Jean tries to correct the mistakes of past years, for the sake of the happiness of others, he decides to sacrifice himself.

Former prisoner convicted of stealing bread for his seven children sister, after nineteen years of imprisonment he is free. Initially, his sentence was only four years, but due to frequent escape attempts, it was extended again and again.

The time he spent among criminals, he almost lost his name, and received a “yellow passport”, which former convicts receive. But with him, Jean is despised everywhere, and he cannot start life again, his thoughts are again about returning to crime.

But, by the will of fate, he finds himself in the small town of Digne, near the house of Bishop Miriel, who is the only one who will lend him a helping hand and let him stay for the night. Jean was very surprised by such a warm welcome, where they even set the table for him. The bishop suggests that he begin completely new life. But over time, thoughts of theft again appear in his head, and only by a miracle does he not kill Miriel. Having stolen silver items, he goes on the run.

Until the end of his days, Jean may find himself in hard labor. He regrets that he could not kill the bishop at the moment when he is caught with stolen things. But the priest again gives him a chance to take the righteous path, saying that no one stole his things, but on the contrary, Jean forgot two more candlesticks in his haste. Here prudence returns to him, he feels mercy towards him, and he will remember this very lesson forever, starting a new life.

And Jean will begin his new life in the small town of Montreal, where before his arrival there was poverty and unemployment. Everything will change when Jean, under the new name Madeleine, builds a factory and gives people the opportunity to earn money. Residents will elect him mayor of the city. But one person did not like Madeleine at all, this is Inspector Javert. Resorting to deception, he forces Madeleine to admit that he once robbed a child. And now the former mayor is being sent to hard labor for life. But, risking his life, he escapes from the ship that was transporting prisoners, since he has not yet fulfilled his obligation.

Next, Valjean, fulfilling his promise to a former employee whom he had once fired through carelessness, rushes to her aid. Feeling guilty before the dying Fantine, he promised her to take care of her child, and that’s the only reason he ran away from the ship.

The charming little Cosette grew up with the arrogant and vile innkeepers of the Thenardiers. Since Valjean cannot adopt her, he decides to steal Cosette. Using the fortune accumulated during their ownership of the factory, they begin a new life.

They lived a fairly calm family life for several years. Cosette has grown up attractive girl and one day fate brought her together with a young man named Maris Panmersi. But at first, all events were stacked against them. Over time, Valjean gives his blessing to his daughter Cosette.

Meanwhile, Inspector Javert catches up with Valjean, but eventually lets him go, realizing that he is not so fair and commits suicide.

The novel ends with Valjean living out his quiet last days alone. Cosette, having learned the whole truth, rushes to him, begging for forgiveness. But there is no reason for him to forgive her; Valjean will die with a calm heart, having fulfilled his promise.

The story teaches us to be more attentive and kinder to the people around us, how important it is to lend a helping hand in time...

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The novel “Les Miserables” is one of the most famous works of the titan of French literature, Victor Hugo. The archetypal images of Jean Valjean, Inspector Javert, Cosette, Fantine, Gavroche have become integral parts of the world cultural heritage.

Despite the fact that Les Misérables was published a century and a half ago, in 1862, interest in the work does not subside. The novel successfully survives successive publications and generates new works of art. In particular, thirteen film adaptations were made based on the novel. One of the first screen versions pleased the public in 1913. It was a silent four-part film produced in France. It was created by the then popular director Albert Capellani.

The last film version of the cult work was released in 2012. The dramatic musical film was directed by Tom Hooper. The project featured Hollywood stars Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean), Russell Crowe (Inspector Javert), Anne Hathaway (Fantine), Amanda Seyfried (Cosette) and others.

Let's remember the plot of this great epic about people who were once rejected by life and forever linked by fate.

Healing by Mercy: Bishop Miriel

France. 1815 Former convict Jean Valjean is released after nineteen years of imprisonment. Exactly so many years ago, he stole a loaf of bread for his widowed sister Jeanne and her seven children. Valjean was sentenced to four years of hard labor, and for repeated attempts to escape, another twelve years of imprisonment were added.

He spent almost two decades in the company of notorious criminals, and changed his name to number 24601. Now Valjean is free, but the so-called “yellow passport”, which is issued to all former convicts, prevents him from starting a new life. He is driven out from everywhere, despised everywhere. He's an outcast. Valjean has only one choice - to take the dark path of crime, which is the only one open to him.

Fate brings Valjean to the town of Digne. After futile attempts to find somewhere to spend the night, he comes to the house of the local bishop Miriel. Surprisingly, the dignitary treats the suspicious stranger very cordially, treats him to lunch and orders the traveler to be accommodated in one of the guest rooms. The habits of the underworld take over, and despite his host's hospitality, Valjean cannot resist stealing the silver candlesticks. At first he wants to kill the bishop himself, but at the last moment an unknown force stops the attacker and he flees the crime scene.

The next day, a man in beggar's clothing with stolen silver candlesticks is detained and brought to Miriel. Now Valjean regrets that he showed weakness and did not kill the main witness - now the priest will give testimony that will send him to hard labor for the rest of his days. Imagine Valjean’s surprise when Miriel brought out two more candlesticks, telling the guards that his guest, who was arrested by an absurd accident, had forgotten them in a hurry.

Start over again

When Valjean and Miriel are alone, the bishop encourages the man to start a new life. Let this starting capital in the form of candlesticks help him become human again.

Valjean, who has hitherto seen only evil, betrayal, injustice, greed, at first cannot understand such a selfless manifestation of mercy. Out of old habit, he catches the boy on the street and takes his money. Coming out of his stupor, Valjean suddenly understands that he was given a chance that rarely falls to someone who stumbles. He will use the bishop's gift for good and begin a new life.

Sworn Enemies: Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert

Three years later. Town of Montreal. Previously, this place was practically no different from those wretched French cities where poverty and unemployment reign. But one day a wealthy philanthropist appeared in the city and built a factory for the production of artificial jet. Montreal was transformed before our eyes, its residents began to work and glorify their benefactor, Uncle Madeleine, that was the name of the mysterious philanthropist. Despite his wealth, he was distinguished by fairness. Kindness and modesty, which is why residents unanimously elected him mayor of Montreal.

There was only one person who disliked Madeleine - Inspector Javert. Fanatically devoted to his work, Javert strictly followed the letter of the law. He did not recognize halftones - only black and white. A person who has stumbled once will no longer be able to justify himself in the eyes of the inspector. The law is unshakable and inviolable.

The bloodhound has long been searching for the former convict Jean Valjean, who three years ago robbed a boy on the street. By cunning, Javert forces Madeleine to publicly admit that he is the same Jean Valjean. The former mayor is immediately referred to life imprisonment in the Toulon galleys. Risking his life, Valjean escapes from the ship on which the prisoners were transported. The risk was worth it, because he still had one unfulfilled promise.

A Lost Life: The Story of Fantine

A beautiful girl named Fantine worked at a Montreal factory. Inexperienced and gullible, she innocently fell in love with Felix Toloman. The poor thing had no idea that a handsome rake from a rich family would never marry a commoner. Soon Fantine gave birth to an illegitimate daughter; she named her charming baby Cosette. The girl was forced to give the baby up to the Thenardier innkeepers; the mother sent all the money she earned to her daughter, not even suspecting that the baby was getting nothing.

When the factory found out about Fantine's illegitimate child, she was immediately fired. A woman finds herself on the street without a livelihood and a roof over her head. Worried about her daughter's well-being, Fantine decides to do desperate things - she sells her luxurious hair and snow-white teeth, and then becomes a prostitute.

All this time, Valjean, the owner of the very factory where Fantine worked, remains in the dark about the fate of his ward. He meets Fantine much later, when she is dying of tuberculosis - withered, broken, fallen. Valjean curses himself for his fatal negligence. He will no longer be able to help Fantine - her life is hopelessly ruined - but it is still possible to arrange the happiness of little Cosette. Valjean swears to the dying Fantine that he will not abandon her daughter. This was the promise for which Jean Valjean survived and escaped from the convict ship.

A ray of light in the kingdom of darkness: the story of Cosette

Escaped convict Jean Valjean is unable to adopt Cosette. He steals the girl from the vile Thenardiers and goes on the run with her. Fortunately, Valjean managed to retain a considerable fortune from his days as the owner of the factory. Money matters, and Valjean begins a new life again. He places Cosette in a monastery boarding house and calls himself her father. This is how the quiet begins family life two outcasts who accidentally found each other.

Years have passed. Little Cosette turned into beautiful girl. And soon, along with tender daughterly love, a new unknown feeling for young man named Marius Pontmercy. Having met one day while walking in the garden, Cosette and Marius could no longer forget each other. However, on the path to joint happiness, the lovers had to overcome many obstacles - a revolutionary uprising, Valjean's paternal jealousy, the persecution of Inspector Javert, who even years later did not forget about his sworn enemy Jean Valjean.

"The writing of this book came from the inside out. The idea gave birth to the characters, the characters produced the drama."

"This book from beginning to end, in general and in detail, represents the movement from evil to good, from unjust to just, from false to true, from darkness to light, from greed to conscientiousness, from rotting to life, from bestiality to feeling duty, from hell to heaven, from nothingness to god"

- from the first preface to the novel.

Victor Marie Hugo

Year of creation
1862

In the photo - the manuscript and drawings of V. Hugo

He wrote this book for about 30 years with interruptions...

The idea of ​​a novel about the life of the lower classes, victims of social injustice, arose from the writer at the beginning of his creative career.

Having learned in 1823 that his friend Gaspard de Pope would be passing through Toulon, he asked him to collect information about the life of convicts.

Hugo's interest in penal servitude was probably awakened by the story of an escaped convict who caused a lot of noise.

who became a colonel and was arrested in 1820 in Paris.

In 1828, the former prefect Miollis told Hugo about his brother, Monseigneur Miollis, bishop of Digne,

who provided hospitality to the freed convict Pierre Morin in 1806.

Spiritually reborn under the influence of the bishop, Morin became a military orderly and then died near Waterloo.

In 1829, Hugo placed in Chapter XXIII " Last day sentenced to death" the story of a convict,

who has served his sentence and is faced with the prejudice and hostility of others from his first steps in freedom;

in many ways this was already reminiscent of the story of Jean Valjean.

By the beginning of 1830, Hugo began to imagine the outlines of the future novel and sketched the beginning of the preface to it: "

To those who would ask whether this story really happened, as they say, we would answer,

that it doesn't matter. If by chance this book contains a lesson or advice,

if the events described in it we're talking about, or the feelings evoked by her are not without meaning, then she has achieved her goal...

What matters is not that the story be true, but that it be true..."

In 1832, Hugo intended to begin direct work on “history”,

for in March of this year he entered into an agreement with the publishers Goslin and Randuelle for the publication of a novel,

the name of which was not indicated, although there is no doubt that it was about the future romance “Poverty” (“Les Miseres”),

the first version of Les Miserables.

The theater distracted the writer from the novel, but the idea of ​​the book continued to mature in his soul, enriched with new impressions,

which life gave him, and Hugo’s ever-increasing interest in social issues

(we can also find the outlines of the future novel in the 1834 story “Claude Gue”, the hero of which has a lot in common with Jean Valjean,

and in poems of the 30s and 40s associated with the ideas of social compassion).

Finally, the resounding success of "Parisian Mysteries" by Eugene Sue (1842-1843) turned Hugo's thoughts to a novel about the life of the people,

although, of course, entering into obvious competition with Sue, Hugo was not thinking about a lively feuilleton novel, but about a social epic.

On November 17, 1845, Hugo began to write the novel that he had dreamed about so much and which he called “Jean Trejean”;

two years later the title changes to “Poverty,” and at this time Hugo is so engrossed in his work that

that he decides to have lunch only at nine o’clock for two months “to lengthen his working day.”

The events of the 1848 revolution interrupted this hard work, and Hugo returned to her again in August 1851.

This was followed by a new break caused by the December 2 coup. Hugo finishes the last part in Brussels.

The first edition of the novel was thus ready by 1852.

It consisted of four parts and contained a much smaller number of episodes and author's digressions,

than the final text. When Hugo decided in 1860 to revise the book, finally titled Les Misérables in 1854,

he gave complete freedom to the lyrical beginning of his prose.

Branches from the main storyline also appeared in it.

In 1861, during a trip to Belgium, Hugo created a description of the Battle of Waterloo in two weeks;

at the same time, new chapters are included in the novel, depicting the secret republican society “Friends of the ABC”,

is created perfect image"priest of the revolution" Enjolras.

Some new shades appeared in the characterization of Marius, in which certain features were reflected

young Victor Hugo. The first edition of the book, which appeared in early 1862, sold out like lightning:

In two days the entire circulation - seven thousand copies - was sold out.

A new, second edition was immediately required, which was published two weeks later.

Poems by Hugo during the writing of the book:

Don't you have anything to fight with? OK! Hammer
Pick it up or use a crowbar!
There the pavement stone is split,
A hole has been cut through the wall.
And with a cry of rage and with a cry
Hopes, in great friendship, -
For France, for our Paris! -
In the last mad struggle,
Washing away contempt from memory,
You will establish your own order.

(Translation by P. Antokolsky)

Prototypes

Jean Valjean- one of the prototypes of the hero was the convict Pierre Morin, who in 1801 was sentenced to five years of hard labor

for a stolen piece of bread. Only one person, the bishop of the city of Digne, Monsignor de Miollis,

took a consistent part in his fate after his release, first giving shelter,

In addition to Morin, researchers also name Zh.V. among the prototypes. the famous François Vidocq,

chief of the Paris criminal police, a former convict.

It was with Vidocq that the rescue of Zh.V. described in the novel took place. old Fauchelevent from under an overturned cart.

Gavroche- Josepha Bar. He lived and fought half a century before Hugo's hero rose to the barricade, in those great days

when the French went into battle for freedom, equality and fraternity, stormed the Bastille,

they waged war with all of aristocratic Europe, fought with their own counter-revolution.

The fate of thirteen-year-old drummer Joseph Bart does not have much in common with Gavroche.

But the writer often does not need the facts of life of the real prototype and his hero to coincide exactly.

For Hugo it was important to draw a heroic character, to create a living literary character.

Joseph Barat was in this sense a magnificent “model”, from whom it was very convenient to paint the image of the young hero.

His feat could not help but excite and inspire the artist.

And it is no coincidence that so many songs were composed and so many poems were written about this little brave man,

No wonder artists and sculptors depicted him in their works.

Poets T. Rousseau, M.-J. Chenier, O. Barbier dedicated poems to him, the artist Jean-José Weerts, the sculptors David D'Angers,

Albert Lefebvre created monuments to him, and even Louis David, the world's first great painter who became a revolutionary,

Of the three paintings dedicated to the figures of the French revolution, the “martyrs of freedom” - Lepeletier and Marat, one was dedicated to Joseph Barat.

Joseph Bara- a small citizen of the French Republic, fought bravely in the ranks of the patriots.

In mid-October, the so-called Catholic and royal army of the Vendeans was surrounded at Cholet.

There were fierce battles, the rebel troops stubbornly resisted.

The more hopeless their situation was, the more fiercely they fought, using cunning and deceit.

During a skirmish in the forest, Joseph Barat was surrounded by a detachment of rebels.

Twenty gun barrels were pointed at the young drummer. Twenty Vendeans were waiting for the order of their leader.

The boy could have saved himself at the cost of shame. All one had to do was shout, as the enemies demanded, three words: “Long live the king!”

The young hero responded with the exclamation: “Long live the Republic!” Twenty bullets pierced his body.

A few hours later, revolutionary troops broke into Cholet, the last stronghold of the rebels.

After the victory at the walls of Cholet, the commissioners reported to the Convention that many brave men had distinguished themselves in battle.

Drummer Joseph Barat was first on the list of brave men.

By that time, another young hero had become known in Paris - Agricole Viala.

He was almost the same age as Joseph Bara. And he was also a little soldier -

volunteered to join a small National Guard unit in his hometown of Avignon.

In the summer of ninety-three, the detachment took part in battles with counter-revolutionaries.

The royalists, who had rebelled in the south, marched towards Avignon. Their path was blocked by the waters of the Durance River and a detachment of brave men.

The forces were too unequal to doubt the outcome of the battle.

There is only one way to prevent the rebels from moving forward: to cut the rope from the pontoon,

on which the enemies intended to cross the river. But even adults could not dare to do this -

The royalist battalions were within rifle range.

Suddenly everyone saw a boy in the uniform of a national guardsman, grabbing an ax and rushing to the shore.

The soldiers froze. Agricole Viala ran to the water and hit the rope with all his might with an axe.

A hail of bullets rained down on him. Ignoring the volleys from the opposite side,

he continued to furiously cut the rope. The fatal blow knocked him to the ground. "I'm dying for freedom!" -

were last words Agricole Vial. The enemies nevertheless crossed the Durance.

The boy was still alive. They angrily attacked the daredevil, stretched out on the sand near the water.

Several bayonets pierced the child's body, then he was thrown into the waves of the river.

Prototype Cosette was Zhanna Lanvin, world famous Parisian designer

A kind of “continuation” of the novel “Les Miserables” was written by journalist Francois Ceresa -

"Cosette, or the Time of Illusions"("Cosette ou le Temps des Illusions").

The publication of this novel even caused litigation between Victor Hugo's great-great-grandson, Pierre Hugo and François Cereza.

Film adaptations

1. "Les Miserables", film, 1935, USA, dir. R. Boleslavsky, starring Frederic March.
2. "The Life of Jean Valjean", film, 1952, USA, dir. L. Milestone.
3. "Les Miserables", film, 1958, France-Italy, dir. J. P. Le Chanois, starring Jean Gabin.
4. "Les Miserables", film, 1978, USA. starring Richard Jordan.
5. "Les Miserables", film, 1982, France, dir. R. Hossein, starring Lino Ventura.
6. "Les Miserables", film, 1998, USA, dir. B. August. Starring Liam Neeson.
7. "Les Miserables", film, 2000, France, starring Gerard Depardieu.
8. "Cosette", cartoon, USSR, 1977
9. "Les Misérables: Cosette", animated series Japan, 2007
10. "Les Miserables", film, 2012, UK, starring Hugh Jackman.

What is the secret of the great and unfading French novel, which Andre Maurois called “one of the great creations human mind", and Théophile Gautier - "a product of the elements."

After all, the critics who have been criticizing Les Misérables for over a century and a half are formally right:

the structure of a grandiose epic cannot be considered flawless and logically consistent;

there are too many lengths, philosophical and non-philosophical arguments, unjustified deviations

from common line plot development. And yet they read Les Misérables and continue to read them

burning with hatred against social injustice and the vile face of the oppressors.

Why is this so? It's not hard to guess!

Because Hugo put part of his own heart into his great creation -

its beating is transmitted to everyone who comes to this source of fiery feelings!

As long as by the force of laws and morals there will be a social curse, which, in the midst of the flourishing of civilization, artificially creates hell and aggravates the fate depending on God with fatal human predestination; until the three main problems of our age are resolved - the humiliation of man due to his belonging to the proletarian class, the fall of woman due to hunger, the withering of the child due to the darkness of ignorance; as long as there is social suffocation in some sections of society; in other words, and from an even broader point of view - as long as need and ignorance reign on earth, books like this will perhaps not be useless.

Hauteville House, 1862

In 1815, Charles-François-Bienvenue Myriel was the bishop of the city of Digne. He was an old man of about seventy-five; He occupied the episcopal throne in Dina since 1806.

Although this circumstance does not in any way affect the essence of what we are about to talk about, it will, perhaps, be useful, in order to maintain complete accuracy, to mention here the rumors and gossip caused in the diocese by the arrival of Mr. Miriel. Whether human rumor is true or false, it often plays in a person’s life, and especially in his future fate, no less important role than his own actions. Monsieur Myriel was the son of a councilor of the court at Aix and therefore belonged to the judicial aristocracy. They said that his father, wishing to pass on his position to him by inheritance and adhering to a custom that was very widespread at that time among judicial officials, married his son very early, when he was eighteen or twenty years old. However, if rumors are to be believed, Charles Miriel provided plenty of food for conversation even after his marriage. He was well built, although somewhat short in stature, graceful, dexterous, and witty; The first half of his life he devoted entirely to the world and love affairs.

But then the revolution came; events quickly replaced one another; the families of judicial officials, thinned out, persecuted, persecuted, scattered in different directions. Charles Miriel emigrated to Italy in the very first days of the revolution. There his wife died of a chest illness that she had suffered from for a long time. They had no children. How did it turn out? further fate Miriel? The collapse of the old French society, the death of his own family, the tragic events of 1993, perhaps even more terrible for the emigrants who followed them from afar through the prism of their despair - was it not this that first planted in his soul the idea of ​​renunciation of the world and loneliness? ? Was he not, in the midst of some entertainment and hobbies that filled his life, suddenly struck by one of those mysterious and formidable blows that sometimes, hitting right in the heart, plunge into the dust a person who is able to withstand the social catastrophe that breaks his existence and destructive material well-being? No one could answer these questions; they only knew that Miriel had returned from Italy as a priest.

In 1804 Mr. Miriel was parish priest at Brignole. He was already old and lived in deep solitude.

Shortly before the coronation, some minor matter concerning his arrival - it is now difficult to establish which one - brought him to Paris. Among other people in power, to whom he petitioned for his parishioners, he had to visit Cardinal Fesch. One day, when the Emperor came to visit his uncle, the venerable priest, waiting in the reception room, found himself face to face with His Majesty. Noticing that the old man was looking at him with curiosity, Napoleon turned around and asked sharply:

- Why are you, good man, looking at me like that?

“Sire,” answered Miriel, “you see kind person, and I am great. Each of us can gain some benefit from this.

That same evening the Emperor asked the cardinal for the name of this curé, and a short time later M. Myriel learned with amazement that he had been appointed bishop of Digne.

However, no one knew how reliable the stories about the first half of Mr. Miriel’s life were. Miriel's family was little known before the revolution.

Mister Miriel had to experience the fate of every new person who finds himself in a small town, where there are many tongues that chatter, and very few heads that think. He had to experience this even though he was a bishop, and precisely because he was a bishop. However, the rumors that people associated with his name were just rumors, hints, buzzwords, empty speeches, simply put - nonsense, resorting to the expressive language of the southerners.

Be that as it may, after the bishop’s nine-year stay in Dina, all these tales and rumors that always occupy a small town and small people at first were consigned to deep oblivion. No one would dare to repeat them now, no one would even dare to remember them.

Monsieur Miriel arrived in Digne with an elderly girl, Mlle Baptistine, his sister, who was ten years younger than him.

Their only maid, Madame Magloire, the same age as Mlle Baptistine, who had previously been “Mr. Curé’s maid,” now received the double title of “Mlle Baptistine’s maid” and “His Eminence’s housekeeper.”

Mademoiselle Baptistine was a tall, pale, thin and meek person. She personified the ideal of everything that is contained in the word “venerable,” for, as it seems to us, motherhood alone gives a woman the right to be called “venerable.” She was never pretty, but her life, which was an unbroken chain of good deeds, eventually gave her appearance some kind of whiteness, some kind of clarity, and, as she grew old, she acquired what could be called “the beauty of kindness.” . What in youth was thinness, in mature age turned into airiness, and an angel shone through this transparent shell. It was a virgin, moreover, it was the soul itself. She seemed made of shadow; just enough flesh to lightly outline the floor; a lump of matter glowing from within; big eyes, always lowered down, as if her soul was looking for an excuse for its stay on earth.

Madame Magloire was a little old lady, gray-haired, plump, even fat, busy, always out of breath, firstly, from constant running, and secondly, because of the asthma that tormented her.

When M. Miriel arrived in the city, he was installed with honors in the episcopal palace, in accordance with the imperial decree, which in the list of ranks and titles places the bishop immediately after the major general. The mayor and the chief justice were the first to pay him a visit; Mr. Miriel was the first to go to the general and prefect.

When the bishop took office, the city began to wait to see what he would turn out to be like.

Bishop's Palace in Dina was adjacent to the hospital.

It was a huge and beautiful stone building, built at the beginning of the last century by Monsignor Henri Puget, Doctor of Theology at the University of Paris, Abbot of Seymours, who occupied the episcopal throne in Digne in 1712. It was truly a princely palace. Everything here had a majestic appearance: the bishop’s apartments, the living rooms, the state chambers, the courtyard, which was very extensive, with vaulted galleries in the ancient Florentine style, and the gardens with magnificent trees. In the dining room - a long and luxurious gallery, which was located on the ground floor and overlooked the garden - Monsignor Henri Puget gave a ceremonial dinner on July 29, 1714, where the following monsignors were present: Charles Brulard de Genlis, Archbishop Prince of Ambren; Antoine de Megrigny, Capuchin, Bishop of Grasse; Philip of Vendôme, Grand Prior of France; Abbot Saint-Honoré of Lerens; François de Berton of Crillon, bishop, Baron of Van; Cesar de Sabran of Forcalquiere, sovereign bishop of Glandevsky, and Jean Soanin, presbyter of the oratory, royal court preacher, sovereign bishop of Senese. Portraits of these seven dignitaries adorned the walls of the dining room, and the significant date - July 29, 1714 - was engraved in gold letters on a white marble board.