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Miramont Castle (Manitou Springs, Colorado)

USA / Colorado / Manitou Springs / Manitou Springs, Colorado / Capitol Hill Avenue, 9
 museum, mansion / manor house / villa, Eclectic (architecture), NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, historic house museum
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Miramont Castle, a.k.a. Montcalme Sanitarium.

The largest and best known of the "castles" of Manitou Springs. Built in 1895 as "Miramont", the 42-room mansion of Father Jean Baptist Francolon, a wealthy and aristocratic French priest, . Later served as a tuberculosis sanitarium, and then an apartment building. Now a museum.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural and social significance.

Featured in the Manitou Springs Historic Plaque Walking Tour: www.manitouspringsgov.com/library/documents/general/map...

History:

The son of a French diplomat, Father Francolon served as secretary for Archbishop Lamy in Santa Fe prior to being transferred to Manitou in 1892 to serve as the local parish priest. He requested the re-assignment due to health problems which he hoped the local spring water would help cure.

His first home in Manitou, a mansion which he called "Montcalme", was located just to the northwest of Miramont, at what is now the castle's upper parking lot: wikimapia.org/28326231

When the much larger Miramont was completed three years later, he donated Montcalme to the Sisters of Mercy, who turned it into a tuberculosis sanitarium. In 1900 he left Manitou Springs under mysterious circumstances, which paved the way for the Sisters to aquire Miramont as well in 1904. (They retained the name "Montcalme Sanitarium" for the re-combined property.)

The original Montcalme mansion burned down in 1907. Miramont continued to operate as "Montcalme Sanitarium" until 1928. It remained in the posession of the Sisters until 1946, when it was sold to became an apartment building. The Manitou Springs Historical Society purchased Miramont in 1976, and opened it to the public as a museum.

www.miramontcastle.org/

Historic photos:
www.flickr.com/photos/manitouspringshistory/6982864123
www.flickr.com/photos/manitouspringshistory/6836740364
www.flickr.com/photos/manitouspringshistory/6982867103
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   38°51'33"N   104°55'20"W
This article was last modified 7 years ago