Bois-Murat Castle (Matran)

Three castles stand close to each other, to the right of the road leading from Avry-sur-Matran to Fribourg. The first two, Nonan and Bois-Murat castles, are not visible from the main road, while the Bugnon manor house and its chapel are very close by. What many do not know is that all three are located in the municipality of Corminboeuf.

Let's start with Bois-Murat. How could one explain the name of this place? The explanation is found neither in Paul Aebischer nor in Maurice Bossard. Undoubtedly, one can recognize a similarity with the places Mur, Muraz, Murettes (wall, small walls), which refer to the discovered Roman walls or even older walls. Murat Castle - also called Villa - was built from May 1909 to June 1910 for a Frenchman, Count Abel Armand.

Some dates from its history:

• March 16, 1908 Purchase by Count Abel Armand from Alfred von Reynold, owner of Nonan Castle, of 17.5 ha in Bois-Murat
• During the construction (1909), archaeological research was undertaken by Abbot Henri Breuil, "Pope of Prehistory". He was the first historian to go to Lascaux (Périgord). In the Bois-Murat - Nonan region, his work unearthed a tumulus from the Hallstatt period (1st Iron Age, 750-450 BC) in connection with the Châtillon-sur-Glâne site.
• Count Armand entrusted Achilles Duchêne with the realization of the garden. He was a great landscape architect of sophisticated gardens in France, Germany, and England.
• The castle was astonishingly furnished and equipped with a rich library.

On Heritage Days 2006, public access to the property was permitted. Here is the presentation of the Bois-Murat Park, from the newspaper Le Matin of Sunday, September 3, 2006, under the title Discover the most beautiful gardens of French-speaking Switzerland (Découvrez les plus beaux jardins de Suisse romande):

Nothing was left to chance here. A wonderful characteristic composition by the Frenchman Achilles Duchêne, who, with his father Henri, shaped the garden architecture of France, Europe, and even the United States for a century. The garden of Bois-Murat includes the master house, terraces with a courtyard of honor to the north, a semicircular parterre to the south, and a water mirror to the west. This magnificent green carpet, lined with century-old trees and hedges cut in a semicircle, enhances the villa, which was built in 1909 by architect Adolphe Burnat.