Bequeathed to the City of Deauville in 1974, the Gulbenkian Park (called until 2010: Domaine des Enclos) is a landscaped park of 39 hectares located in Bénerville-sur-mer, at the gates of Deauville. It was acquired and transformed, from 1937 by Calouste Gulbenkian (1869 1955), one of the biggest fortunes of the twentieth century, philanthropist and great art collector, passionate about birds and gardens. Alexandre Genest, responsible for the parks and gardens of the City of Deauville and Sylvain Martinel, responsible for green spaces, will welcome visitors for a commented presentation of the remarkable trees of the park.
Instead of being an artist, Calouste Gulbenkian seizes and transforms this park of the country of Auge, to make of it the work of his life. From its acquisition in 1937 until 1939, it was redesigned by Achille Duchêne, a famous landscape architect (who restored the Parc du Château de Vaux Le Vicomte and the Abbaye de Royaumont, La guerre et l'occupation interruption sa conception et cause de grandes dégradations. From 1946 to 1954, while Achille Duchesne disappeared, the restoration of the Parc des Enclos will feed, a correspondence, sensitive and complicit, with Saint-John Perse (Alexis Leger) (1887-1975) poet and diplomat, passionate about landscapes and birds, future Nobel Prize in literature (1960).
Gulbenkian Park will be open continuously from 11am to 7pm on Saturday 19 September and Sunday 20 September.