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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The house, located at 13 and 15 Grande Rue in Besançon, is a mansion built in the 1530s for Simon Gauthiot d'Ancier. The building, built on a crossing plot, incorporates the remains of a 13th or 14th century wooden house, preserved from the second floor. The speed of its construction explains why the medieval structure acquired in 1531 was not completely demolished, but included in the new building.

The hotel was completed in 1533 to host a reception in honour of the Count of Nassau and his son, the prince of Orange. In 1620, the city purchased the hotel's orchard to expand the Market Square (now the Place de la Révolution), resulting in the construction of a new building on the square side. In the 18th century, the left (13 Grande Rue) was sold and remodeled: a house on street and a secondary house were added in 1741, while a third house, dating from 1708, occupied the bottom of the plot.

Modern transformations have profoundly altered the hotel. In 1980, the courtyard was covered to expand a store, probably destroying a wing on a courtyard and the historic passage (or demeanor) linking the Grande Rue to the square. In 1993, work revealed the central nave of the medieval wood-paned house, still visible. Despite these changes, Renaissance elements remain, such as a shield between numbers 13 and 15, marking the axis of the original façade.

The building has been partially protected since 1937: its street façade, with its skylight, and its roof are inscribed in the Historic Monuments. Today, medieval remains and additions of the 18th and 19th centuries coexist, reflecting the architectural and urban evolutions of Besançon.

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