This house owes its name to Georges Darboy, Archbishop of Paris from 1863 to 1871. Born in Fayl-Billot in 1813, Georges Darboy, the son of village grocers, entered the priesthood at an early age. He became a priest in 1836, Bishop of Nancy in 1859 and Archbishop of Paris in 1863. Thanks to his great influence, he revitalised religious life in Fayl-Billot by supporting the construction of Notre-Dame-de-la-Nativité church in 1865, an impressive cathedral-like church facing Route Nationale 19. As the land belonged to his family, Georges Darboy bought back the share bequeathed to his sister, had the house where he was born demolished and had this mansion built in its place around 1865.
Local history, handed down orally, has it that he never saw his house finished, dying before he could return to his roots. On 24 May 1871, he was shot as a hostage during the Bloody Week of the Paris Commune.
Now a private site, from 2001 to 2023 the building was home to the Fayl-Billot Centre for Vocational Training and Agricultural Promotion, formerly known as the École Nationale d'Osiériculture et de Vannerie.
No visits: private site only visible from the outside.
Maison George Darboy à Fayl-Billot
