Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The building at 30 rue Saint-Rome in Toulouse is an architectural complex marked by two major construction periods: the 16th and 18th centuries. The buildings, organised in L, are structured around an inner courtyard accessible by two entrances, one on Rue Saint-Rome and the other on Rue Baur-Lormian. The façade on Rue Saint-Rome features a central arcade framed by a bastard door and a cochère door surmounted by a carved keyed window. Four spans and three floors make up the elevation, while Louis XV style balconies adorn the windows of the first floor. A three-storey hexagonal tower, built around 1550, dominates the inner courtyard, although partially mutilated today.

The tower, probably built by Jean Roguier, capital of Toulouse in 1546-1547, is a vestige of the original building. It has a semi-entered low door and three superimposed windows, arranged at a particular angle of hexagon. The elevations on street and courtyard were rebuilt in the early eighteenth century, as evidenced by the inscription "M CARANOU ANCIEN CAPITOU 1724" on one of the facades. Inside, a vaulted cradle cellar, dating from the late 15th or early 16th century, remains, while the medieval vaults of the shop (circa 1500) were destroyed in 1993. These elements reveal the architectural evolution of the site, mixing medieval heritage and classical transformations.

The building illustrates Toulouse's commercial and political history. The vaulted hall destroyed in 1993, comparable to other Toulouse backyard shops of the 15th and 16th centuries (like those of 22 rue Saint-Rome or 19 rue Croix-Baragnon), served as a storage place for goods. Rue Saint-Rome, a major shopping centre, then concentrated on artisanal and commercial activities. The presence of capitouls, consul magistrates of the city, such as Jean Roguier or M. Caranou (mentioned in 1724), underscores the link between this heritage and the municipal administration of Ancien Régime. The facades and roofs, protected since 1979, perpetuate this dual heritage, both domestic, commercial and institutional.

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