The castle of Malijai was built around 1770 by Louis-Maximilien Nogier, general revenue officer in Provence and wealthy man of the area. It is situated in the heart of the old town near the Bléone.
One of the rare examples of classic castle, with the regular lines typical of the eighteenth century in Upper Provence, it has been in the French National Register of Historic Monuments since 1983.
Oriented with the façade facing south, a sheer drop over the Bléone, the castle is ornated by a square on the eastern side that connects it by ramp to the Bléone, and to the west by gardens, much like the typical “French gardens”, that are composed of shaped hedges and other evergreen shrubs and joined to the square by a broad garden terrace.
The Malijai gardens celebrate the legend of the classic 18th c. castle. From its panoramic terrace high above the Bléone you can admire a spectacular view. Maintaining a typical “French-style garden” requires constant care of the shaped boxwood hedges, the shrubs, and the flowering plants. It is precisely this careful management that has determined the success of this realm out of time and place that seems to strike up a madrigal against oblivion.
One can make out three large structural parts of this “French-style garden”: the terrace of the castle, a relatively “open” part of the garden closer to the castle and composed of an architectural group of boxwoods cut in low hedges, and the more “closed” part of the garden further to the west.
Today the garden is without doubt the most important element of the historic park and enhances the entire complex.
Open to the public, it is particularly appreciated by the local inhabitants who find it a place for taking relaxing strolls.