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The example of Voltaire at Ferney
Voltaire, the writer and philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, spent the month of October 1725 at Belesbat on the occasion of Louis XV’s marriage at Fontainebleau.
As a guest of the marchioness of Prie, Voltaire organized a burlesque party in the castle’s great hall. The text describing this masquerade is known as La fête à Bélébat.
In 1758, after numerous travels that took him from England to Prussia. Voltaire finally settled in Ferney, at the border between France and Switzerland.
He made a commitment to improve and develop the region. He cleared the land and enriched the soil, drained the swamps, and installed a water management system. He developed animal husbandry. He encouraged craftsmen to set up workshops. He had a theater built, creating an ideal cultural setting.
Voltaire summarized his achievement in these terms: “A den of forty savages has become an opulent little town inhabited by 1,200 useful people.”
Voltaire’s fame and renowned hospitality attracted artists, scientists, princes, ambassadors and those who were simply curious. They flocked like pilgrims to meet the “Innkeeper of Europe”.
