History of Voltaire’s Château
A Comprehensive Project. Voltaire entirely rebuilt the château from 1758 onwards. He laid out the park, not hesitating to cultivate the land with his own hands. By turns, Voltaire acted as town planner, entrepreneur and patron of the arts and transformed the market town of Ferney, in accordance with the principles set out in Candide (1759) and summarised in the famous maxim: “we must take care of our garden”. An Intense Social and Literary Life. From Ferney, Voltaire continued his combat against intolerance and wrote some 6,000 letters, the Dictionnaire philosophique (Philosophical Dictionary), the Treatise on Tolerance and tragedies etc. He gave theatre performances at the château and entertained guests from throughout Enlightenment Europe. The State acquired this historical site in 1999.
