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Origin and history

The Mine House is a neo-classical style building built at the end of the 18th century, between 8 and 12 rue Henri-IV, along the Cours Saint-Pierre in Nantes. Commanded around 1772 by surgeon Julien Minée, embalming the bishops of Nantes, he was built with the debris of the Guy Tower of Thouars, destroyed near the Saint-Pierre Gate. This material of recovery gives the building an unusual origin, linked to the medieval history of the city.

The architecture of the Mine House is distinguished by its symmetry, its wrought iron balconies and a rock cartridge above the central window, bearing the date "1768" and the Latin inscription Hic de Vita Vita ("Here we live from life"), probably a reference to the profession of surgeon of its first owner. The south wings (Nos. 8-9) and north wings (No. 12) complete the whole, although the latter, later built, has decorative differences, like a woman's head carved above the entrance.

Merovingian burials were discovered in the garden, revealing a much older past than the building itself. In 1954, the street façade and the corresponding roof were listed as historical monuments, thus recognizing the heritage value of this emblematic building of the Nantes heritage. The Mine House also illustrates the urban development of Nantes in the 18th century, marked by the emergence of related buildings for a rising bourgeoisie.

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