Calouste Gulbenkian

At the gates of Deauville, the Domaine des Enclos is an exceptional 33-hectare park acquired in 1937 by Calouste Gulbenkian (1869-1955), a businessman and aesthete who was one of the greatest collectors of the 20th century. An Armenian born in Turkey, of British nationality and living in France, he made his fortune in the nascent oil industry. For almost forty years, Deauville has owned and shared one of the works in which he was most involved: a garden "in his own way".

During a visit to Spain in 1928, Calouste Gulbenkian was charmed by the discovery of the Retiro gardens near Malaga. After this visit, he wrote in his diary, "A man of science and a dreamer in a garden of my own, these are the two great objectives of my life that I have not been able to achieve.
However, nine years later, during one of his stays in Deauville, he acquired the Domaine des Enclos, in the commune of Bénerville, bordering Deauville. It is in this park that he will realize the garden of his dreams.

Calouste Gulbenkian died in 1955 at the age of 86. The Parc des Enclos was then managed by the Gulbenkian Foundation, which donated it to the City of Deauville in July 1973. Since then, three gardeners from the City of Deauville have been working on its upkeep all year round.

The estate today offers different spaces: a pine forest on its upper part, a rose garden, an apple orchard, a vast gently sloping meadow with viewpoints and escape routes to the sea, aviaries, a farm and a house. The park gathers rare species: black walnut and white ash from America, lime from Holland, sequoia, Himalayan cedar, weeping ash, Siberian elm, ... The cone of vision which embraces the valleys of the Pays d'Auge and the views of the sea, has just been classified by the Ministry of Culture (Drac de Basse-Normandie).

Twenty years ago, the City of Deauville decided to plant each year as many apple trees as there were children born in Deauville in the same year. Each tree planted is named after the child who planted it. Every first of May, the park is open to the public and visitors are welcomed with a sprig of lily of the valley.

Seventy years after its conception, the Parc des Enclos remains a magical place, a little known and delightful facet of a secret Deauville. More than anything else, the park has retained the charm and beauty that its creator once had created, with a rare sensitivity.

THE CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a private Portuguese institution, created in 1956 by the will of its founder, a financier of Armenian origin and British nationality, who died in 1955 in Lisbon, his place of residence since 1942.

A pioneer in the oil industry, Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian was also a great art collector. The Gulbenkian Museum, inaugurated in 1969 in Lisbon, now houses his entire collection: Egyptian antiquities, Islamic art, oriental and western art from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, French furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries, and creations by René Lalique.

The Foundation carries out diversified activities in the fields of arts, education, health and science. The CAM (Center for Modern Art) houses the most important collection of 20th century Portuguese art.

The Foundation also has two artistic entities: the Gulbenkian Orchestra and its Choir, which perform regularly in Portugal and abroad. The Foundation also organizes international conferences and symposiums. Finally, it has a scientific research laboratory and awards research grants every year.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Cultural Center extends the Foundation's activities in Paris. Portugal and Europe are at the heart of its vocation. Through a diversified program, the Center aims to participate in major European debates, to contribute to the challenges of contemporary society and to make Portuguese culture known in France.

The Center's library houses the largest documentation center in Europe dedicated to Portugal and the Portuguese-speaking world, with nearly 100,000 books, mainly in French and Portuguese. www.gulbenkian-paris.org