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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Gaugiran House is an iconic medieval Gothic house in Cordes-sur-Ciel, Tarn. Built between the end of the 13th and 14th centuries by a rich local family, it embodies the civil architecture of the period with its three floors, ogival arcades on the ground floor and gemined bays on the upper floors. Its wooden staircase and inner courtyard reflect the modes of communication between rooms in the Middle Ages.

The house is one of the many Gothic buildings that have earned Cordes-sur-Ciel the nickname "City to the hundred warheads". It was listed as a historic monument on May 14, 1923 for its heritage value. Originally divided into commercial spaces on the ground floor and independent housing on the floors, it bears witness to the medieval social and economic organization, with latrines and private accesses for each unit.

Purchased by the municipality in 2008, Gaugiran House now houses the tourist office of Cordes-sur-Ciel. Recent developments, supervised by the architect of the Bâtiments de France, have preserved the old and preferred elements of reversible modifications to preserve the authenticity of the place. Fourteenth century geometric frescoes, discovered in the first floor room, and an exceptionally preserved wooden partition reinforce its historical interest.

Dendrochronological analyses revealed that the beams of the ceiling on the first floor come from wood felled in 1267-1268, pushing the date of construction by a quarter of a century from previous estimates (late 13th century). This discovery confirms the age of the building, which occupied a parcel crossing between Grand Rue and Rue Saint-Michel, with a central courtyard served by wooden galleries.

The Gaugiran house also symbolizes the urban evolution of Cordes-sur-Ciel, marked by partial changes. An ancient venal, now interrupted by the western building body, attests to an anterior piecemeal boundary. The capitals adorned with foliage, human figures and animals, as well as the four warheads on the ground floor, underline its membership in the Southern Gothic.

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