Timeline

Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-Nicolas fountain, located in Blois, is a vestige of the ancient Benedictine abbey of Saint-Laumer. Built in the 17th century, it is backed by the hospital wall (formerly the abbey) and consists of a hard stone base, a plain painting and a cornice. Two bronze mouths, representing a human head and a fish head, let the water drain to a basin accessible by three steps. The water supply comes from an underground canal leading to a small lake under the Rue des Degrès Saint-Nicolas. This fountain bears witness to the monastic history of the site, marked by successive reconstructions and adaptations.

The Abbey of Saint-Laumer, founded in the 10th century, had a turbulent history. The Benedictine monks, initially located near the chapel of Saint-Calais, received the church of Saint-Lubin and land in the Faubourg du Foix. The choir and nave were built in the 12th century, followed by the completion of the church and abbey buildings in the 13th century. After destruction during the Wars of Religion (1568), the abbey was restored in the early seventeenth century by the Maurists, before being transformed into a hospital after the Revolution (1796). The fountain, classified in 1946, is one of the few remaining elements of this monastic heritage.

The abbey buildings, which became hospice and hospital, underwent major modifications in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the destruction of the spur in 1843 to enlarge the hotel-God. After the transfer of hospital activities, a restoration has been in progress since 1986. The fountain, owned by the commune, remains an architectural and historical testimony of Blois' religious and hospitable heritage.

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