Excursions > Château-Observatory Abbadia

IN HENDAYE, ON THE BASQUE COAST, A SITE BEYOND YOUR IMAGINATION!

Welcome to Abbadia, the Château-Observatory! Overhanging the cliffs of Hendaye, this enchanting manor house was imagined and commissioned by Antoine d’Abbadie, an ethnologist, cartographer, astronomer and adventurer…

Built between 1864 and 1884 by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, with its neogothic architecture and its eclectic decoration, it is one of the most famous monuments of the Basque Country. History lovers and families looking for an original tour will be seduced!

SCIENTIST WITH A PASSION FOR TRAVEL

Although a fervent Christian, Antoine d'Abbadie stands out as an extraordinary scholarscientist, passionate about geography, astronomy and foreign cultures.

A great traveller, he drew the first cartography of Ethiopia after an eleven-year stay in the country. A geodesist and astronomer, he took interest, in such things as the matters of vertical variations, micro-seismicity, the sources of the Nile and celestial mapping. 

Elected member of the Academy of Sciences in 1867, he became its president in 1892.

The castle houses an astronomical observatory, which operated until 1975. Before his death in 1897, Antoine d'Abbadie bequeathed his castle to the Academy of sciences.

Optional excusion on Thursday 27 August in the afternoon, at the same time as the open access exhibition.

Registration fee : 40 €

If there are insufficient registrations for the excursion, it will be cancelled and you will be refunded.