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Origin and history

The Episcopal Palace of Noyon, located in the Oise region of Hauts-de-France, finds its origins in the sixth century when Bishop Médard obtained a part of the Royal Palace of Clotaire to establish his bishopric. In the eighth century, the episcopal seat was moved near the cathedral, along the Gallo-Roman ramparts still visible. The building of the present palace began in the 12th century, with a rectangular three-level tower (the Roland Tower) and a large adjacent hall, which remains archatures and bays decorated with capitals of the 1170s. A court was added in 1095 by Bishop Stephen I of Nemours, marking a first significant extension.

In the 16th century Bishop Charles de Hangest began the construction of a new Renaissance-style house (1501-1528), backed by the medieval tower. This building, decorated with classic frontons and flamboyant Gothic stone laces, carries the arms of the Hangest family. A century later, Henri de Baradat erected a body of classical building (1630-1674) in place of the large medieval hall, decorated with ionic pilasters. In 1790 Bishop Louis-André de Grimaldi added a building for archives before the palace was confiscated during the Revolution and turned into an administrative seat.

The episcopal chapel, built around 1183 in parallel with the cathedral bedside, illustrates a major architectural innovation: its twin bays surmounted by an oculus prefigure the Gothic style. Partially destroyed in 1897 by architect Paul Selmersheim to clear the cathedral, she also suffered a fire in 1728 and irreversible damage during the First World War. The ruins were stabilized in the 1930s and restored in 2010. The palace, set on fire in 1918, was rebuilt identically between 1924 and 1938 to house the Noyon Museum, inaugurated in 1948 after several moves of the collections.

Today, the museum houses archaeological collections (gallo-Roman objects, funeral steles), elements of the cathedral's treasure (medieval caves, 11th century chess games), and paintings, including those of Joseph-Félix Bouchor. The palace, witness to architectural evolutions from the 12th to the 18th century, thus blends medieval, Renaissance and classical heritage, while playing a major cultural role for the city of Noyon.

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