Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house, located on 4 rue de la Vieille-Currency in Besançon, is a mansion built mainly in the seventeenth century, but incorporating older architectural elements. The building consists of three houses organized around two courtyards: a main house on street, seven-span, distributed by an interior masonry staircase with a iron ramp, and two secondary houses, one perpendicular and the other parallel, served by a common external wrought iron staircase. The street façade, made of cut stone, contrasts with the rest of the walled stone building, reflecting distinct construction campaigns.

The main house preserves traces of a renovation in the 18th century, attributed to architect Jean-Pierre Galezot, who would have redesigned the façade on street and designed the vantals of the entrance gate (according to private archives). Inside, adorned bays date from the first half of the 16th century, while a chimney on the first floor dates back to the late 16th or early 17th century. In the 19th century, a corridor was built on the beautiful floor, modifying the original distribution of the rooms that gave both on the street and the courtyard. The secondary house, to the right of the courtyard, features 16th century bays and a door decorated with crossettes, typical of the late 17th or early 18th century.

In the 18th century, the hotel belonged to Nicolas-François Renard, adviser to the Besançon Parliament. Later, in the 19th and 20th centuries, the building was gradually acquired by the congregation of the Eudist Sisters of the convent of the Refuge, which extended its domain between numbers 4 and 14 of the street. A reinforced concrete oratory, built in the 20th century in the second courtyard, bears witness to this religious occupation. The facades and roofs of the building were protected by an order of inscription for the Historical Monuments on December 4, 1941, highlighting its heritage value.

Architectural analysis reveals a superimposition of styles: Renaissance elements (baths in braid, fireplace) are alongside classical additions (street facade, wrought iron staircase). The successive changes, such as the 19th century corridor or the 20th century restorations, illustrate the adaptation of the building to the needs of its occupants, from aristocratic families to nuns. The exact location, although documented (4 rue de la Vieille-Currency), is considered to be "passible" (note 5/10), perhaps reflecting uncertainties about the original boundaries of the domain.

External links