Château Licot

Before the castle stood on this site, the old farm, Du Maugré (Cursed Place), used to be here in 1465 owned by Jehan de Henry of Nimes. This farm remained in the possession of the de Henry family for a hundred years. In the 17th century it passed into the hands of the Martin family. In 1745 Michel Licot, ironmaster of Vireux, bought the grounds where the castle now stands, with the park and the blast furnace.
For many years this region had a high economic development thanks to the mining of iron ore. Together with the iron ore exploitation, an iron and steel industry developed in Nismes. Between 1864 and 1890, the farm was transformed into the castle we know today, with August Licot, co-founder of the factories “La Providence”, as client, after the closure of the blast furnace. Later, a park and pond were laid out. This successful entrepreneurial family, Licot, was the textbook example of the wealth that the iron industry brought to Nismes in the nineteenth century.