Initial construction 1298 (≈ 1298)
Edited by Fuers' family.
1493
Gothic reconstruction
Gothic reconstruction 1493 (≈ 1493)
Work conducted by Claude Thomassin.
fin XIVe siècle
Acquisition by Thomassin
Acquisition by Thomassin fin XIVe siècle (≈ 1495)
Purchased by a merchant family.
1595
Creating the Provost Charge
Creating the Provost Charge 1595 (≈ 1595)
René Thomassin first holder under Henri IV.
1927
First protection
First protection 1927 (≈ 1927)
Inventory of Historical Monuments.
1992
Final classification
Final classification 1992 (≈ 1992)
Painted ceiling and protected architectural elements.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Gallery on courtyard and staircase with its tower (see AE 15): inscription by decree of 28 May 1927; Façade and roof slope on the square: classification by decree of 22 December 1941; Façades on courtyard and corresponding roofs; façades and roofs on the dock; vaulted rooms in cellar (cad. AE 15): registration by order of 17 July 1990; Ceiling painted in the apartment on the raised ground floor of the eastern part of the house (Box AE 15): by order of 12 June 1992
Key figures
Famille de Fuers - First owners
Construction sponsors in 1298.
Claude Thomassin - Merchant and captain of Lyon
Reconstructed the façade in 1493.
René Thomassin - First Provost Marshal of Merchants
Named in 1595 by Henry IV.
Origin and history
The House Thomassin, built in 1298 by the Fuers family, is one of the oldest houses in Old Lyon. It retains a 13th century painted ceiling decorated with the coat of arms of Fuers, Saint Louis and Blanche de Castille, considered one of the oldest in France. This ceiling, discovered in 1968, bears witness to its medieval origin and its connection to the Capetian kingship.
The house was acquired at the end of the 14th century by the Thomassin family, influential cloth merchants, and was rebuilt in 1493 by Claude Thomassin in a flamboyant Gothic style. The latter, curator of the fairs and captain of Lyon, transformed the facade, while his grandson, René Thomassin, became in 1595 the first provost of the merchants of Lyon, a charge instituted by Henri IV. The house thus embodies the social ascent of this family and its role in the Lyon economy.
Classified as a Historical Monument in 1992 (after a first inscription in 1927), the House Thomassin protects remarkable elements: the gallery on courtyard, a staircase with screws with turret, facades and roofs, as well as the painted ceiling. Its Gothic façade, adorned with spear windows and royal coats of arms (Charles VIII, Anne de Bretagne), reflects its past prestige. Today, it houses a concept store, combining heritage and modernity.
The architecture combines traces of the 13th and 15th centuries, such as the frieze of the zodiac (very damaged) or twined bays with trilobed arches. A coat of arms added in the 19th century recalls an extension on the old street of the Bestes, disappeared. Its location on Place du Change, a medieval economic heart, highlights its importance in Lyon's urban history.
The heritage recognition of Thomassin House extends to vaulted cellars and interior decorations, classified or registered between 1927 and 1992. These successive protections illustrate its historical value, both as a witness to the Lyon bourgeois habitat and as a symbol of the trade that made the city famous in the Renaissance.
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