The Berbie Palace and its gardens
A medieval fortress
Appointed bishop in 1228, Durand de Beaucaire (1228-1254) will consolidate his temporal power over the city. He has a new residence built to assert the authority of the church against the Cathars. A first rectangular building flanked by two corner turrets is erected next to a tower.
Bernard de Combret (1276-1308) continued this project and had the Sainte Catherine Tower built, which he connected by a curtain wall to the Suffragans' wing, the construction of which he began along the North wall. In addition, to avoid any risk of fire, he had all the rooms of the palace covered with ribbed vaults.
Ambitious and authoritarian, Bernard de Castanet (1277-1306) strengthened the palace defenses: he built the Saint-Michel tower and raised the height of the Sainte-Catherine tower. The curtain wall of the Suffragans' wing was reinforced with deep, semicircular buttresses, while two other curtain walls descending towards the Tarn River were built, creating an exit on the opposite side of the city. He established his apartments in the towers and created an upper chapel and the episcopal hall where he administered justice. This state room is adorned with a rich Gothic pavement composed of brightly colored glazed terracotta tiles decorated with motifs whose existence was discovered in 2009.
A pleasure residence
The Berbie Palace lost its defensive aspect from the last quarter of the 15th century. Louis I (1474-1502) and Louis II d'Amboise transformed the building into a pleasure residence.
Louis I of Amboise He built a main building inspired by the Loire Valley châteaux and characteristic of the early French Renaissance: gabled bays, mullioned windows, dormer windows, pepperpot roofs, and slate roofs. He also created a gallery adorned with a ceiling shaped like an upturned boat hull, decorated with painted interlacing patterns and birds inspired by medieval motifs, as well as landscapes and patterns typical of the Renaissance.
The bishop Gaspard Daillon du Lude (1635-1687) restored and completed the Amboise wing in the classical style, doubling it with two superimposed galleries surmounted by a terrace. Inside, a grand staircase was installed, its ceiling decorated with the four cardinal virtues. He replaced the mullioned windows with large classical bays, lowered the south curtain wall to bring air and light into the courtyard, and had a passage cut into the wall to reach Sainte-Cécile Cathedral.
In 1665, Daillon du Lude commissioned Roland Couplet (17th century) to paint the ceilings of the Salon Doré and the Salle de la Croix, reception rooms. Adjoining these rooms is the archbishop's chamber, decorated with painted panels depicting ancient Rome.
His two successors, Hyacinthe Serroni (1678-1687), first archbishop of Albi appointed in 1678, and Charles Le Goux de la Berchère (1647-1719), the chapel was covered with polychrome stucco imitating marble, the work of Jean-Antoine Lombard, which frames eight paintings: the Adoration of the Magi above the altar, as well as representations of saints venerated in the Albigensian region, including Saint Salvy and Saint Cecilia. Outside, Hyacinthe Serroni replaced the old courtyard with a formal French garden surmounted by a walkway. In the 17th century, five marble statues depicting Dionysus and the four seasons were placed there at regular intervals.
Le Goux de la Berchère (1687-1703) created the Salon Carré, fitting out large rooms in the Suffragants' wing opening onto a vast terrace supported by the 13th-century semi-cylindrical buttresses.
Le Cardinal de Bernis (1764-1794) continued the renovations of the palace. He created a small salon in the Sainte-Catherine tower, opening onto a magnificent view of the Tarn River. To facilitate access to the so-called Bernis terrace overlooking the gardens, a very large gateway was opened under the Amboise wing.
The palace in the 19th century
After the Revolution, the Archbishop's Palace buildings became a national property, serving successively as a gendarmerie, a prison, and the residence of the constitutional bishop. From 1797, the palace housed the prefectural administration, a civil court, a public library, and a school. In 1823, the Diocese of Albi was reconstituted, and the Church regained possession of the palace, only to cede it once again to the State with the promulgation of the Law of Separation of Church and State in 1905.
A new museum function
The Palais de la Berbie lost its religious function and its ownership reverted to the department, which allowed the City to use it on the condition that a public museum be opened there. The collections of the museum housed in the Hôtel Rochegude were transferred there and later augmented by the donation of Toulouse-Lautrec's works in 1922. Work was then undertaken to adapt the building to its new function as a museum and to restore it to its original state.
At the beginning of the 21st century, restructuring and extension work on the museum, designed by the Dubois firm, was undertaken with the aim of improving the reception of the public and offering a new museum route highlighting the architecture of the palace.
Classified as a historical monument in 1862, the Palace gained further recognition with the inclusion of the Episcopal City of Albi in the UNESCO World Heritage list.