Heritage Days 2024 at the Maison Ferrari (92): a legacy of the Duchess of Galliera

The Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days) are back on September 21 and 22, 2024! Over the weekend, we'll be scouring the capital and neighboring départements to discover the most beautiful monuments, the most secret places, and learn many of the anecdotes and mysteries that have been lurking just around the corner all this time. How about a trip to the Hauts-de-Seine region, particularly rich in historic monuments and living heritage?

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Direction Clamart and its Maison Ferrari, a curiosity brought to us by the Duchess of Galliera, Maria Brignole Sale de Ferrari. This Paris-loving philanthropist, who died in 1888, spent the last years of her life doing good works, notably building the Saint-Philippe de Meudon orphanage and the Ferrari hospice in Clamart for her retired staff.

Léon Ginain, her favorite architect, who designed the Palais de Galliera and the church of Notre-Dame-des-Champs, set up the project, which she wanted to be as beautiful as her home, the Hôtel Matignon, in a two-hectare park. The Maison Ferrari was basically a hospice for domestic servants, but with absolutely sublime decor in the Italian Renaissance style, with white ashlar facades, a slate roof and marble floors.

Access was free for the elderly until 1914, and until 1964, the Sœurs de la Sagesse congregation in the Vendée looked after the residents. In the center of the building is a chapel dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, decorated with Byzantine-inspired mosaics. Since 2009, this institution has been under the management of the French branch of the Sovereign Order of Malta, and has become an EHPAD, continuing its original work.

The 2024 Heritage Days program

• Guided tour of the Ferrari House
  September 21 and 22
  

  Founded in 1878, the Hospice Ferrari is nestled in a green setting, reflecting 19th-century landscaping tastes. Its architecture is inspired by Parisian hospital buildings of the mid-19th century and borrows from the Italian Renaissance style. Historical tour of the facility and its surroundings.