Receptions for up to 60 guests, residential seminars for small teams and weddings with 18 people sleeping on site can be organized at the Château d'Agel, a château with 12th-century origins in the village of Agel, in the Minervois, Occitanie. The whole house and its park are rented to a single group, and the owners, Martine Ecal-Besse and Jean-Marie, live in a separate house on the grounds.
Seminars and company events
The château takes conferences, incentive trips, work days, team building and small project teams who need a quiet place to finish a piece of work. Four rooms can be used for sessions: the salon on the ground floor, the large salon on the first floor, the large room on the second floor and the orangery. The château and gardens can be privatized on request. Groups have high-speed internet, a two-hectare park, a heated pool and outdoor games such as pétanque and ping-pong for the breaks.
Weddings and receptions
The reception offer bundles the event with exclusive use of the château and park and lodging for 18 people. It runs all year with a minimum stay of three nights. The orangery seats up to 60 guests, the ground-floor salons can be added, and a marquee can be set up in the park. Photos on the site show ceremonies at the village church of Agel and gatherings along the chestnut alley. An optional coordination service covers the choice and management of suppliers, the running of the day and the clean-up afterwards.
Rooms and capacities
The orangery is the main reception room, for up to 60 people. The château covers about 800 square meters on three levels and also has three salons, a library with a billiard table, a boudoir used as an office, two dining rooms, one of them seating 14, a medieval staircase and a wine cellar.
Accommodation
Eight bedrooms sleep 18 guests. On the first floor are the Suite Auguste, the Chambre bleue, the Chambre Pauline and the Chambre chinoise for two each, and the Chambre Lucie for three. On the second floor are the Chambre aux oiseaux and the Chambre de la tour for two and the Chambre du chevalier for three. There are seven bathrooms. Linen and weekly cleaning are included. Outside events, the château is rented by the week.
Catering
There is no in-house restaurant. The château works with a selection of caterers, musicians, florists, technicians and rental firms for tables, chairs and tents, and a chef can be booked for dinners or lunches during the stay. A 20-square-meter kitchen is available to the group. Wines sold under the Château d'Agel name come from the neighboring vineyard, which is run separately.
History and setting
A document from 1100 records the château as belonging to Bernarde, lord of Agel and vassal of the Count of Toulouse. Simon de Montfort burned it in 1210 during the Albigensian Crusade, and it was restored after the Treaty of Paris of 1220. The Ecal family, the current owners, began restoring the building and its Italian-style gardens in the 1960s. The château has a central block, four towers and a dovecote, and its terraced park looks over the Cesse valley, about ten kilometers from Minerve.
Getting there
The entrance is through the gate on Place de l'Église, next to the fountain. Narbonne station is 25 kilometers away and Béziers station 38 kilometers. The nearest airports are Béziers Cap d'Agde and Carcassonne, each about 55 kilometers away, with Montpellier at 120 kilometers and Toulouse at 150.
