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Origin and history

The Hotel Boistouset, also called Hotel D'Agay, is a private hotel built between 1744 and 1750 in Besançon, Doubs department. Commanded by Canon Charles-François-Denis d'Agay, it replaces an older building, perhaps from the 16th century, part of which was preserved on the ground floor. The building adopts an irregular "U" plan, with a main facade of cut stone rhymed by bossed pilasters. Its ironwork entrance gate, surrounded by pillars decorated with medallions, overlooks the Rue de la Convention, opposite Saint John's Cathedral.

In 1794, the hotel was sold as a national property after the French Revolution. He changed ownership several times in the 19th century before being bought in 1910 by Archbishop Sallot de Brobéque, who made it the residence of the archbishops of Besançon. Since 1927, it has belonged to the diocesan association. The building has undergone transformations, such as the suppression of a stairway tower in the 20th century, but retains original elements, including 18th and 19th century lambris in the "chambre du cardinal".

The Hotel Boistouset illustrates the religious civil architecture of Burgundy-Franche-Comté in the Enlightenment century. Its history reflects the political and religious upheavals of France, from its construction for a canon to its present use by the Church. Ranked historic monument in 1942, it also bears witness to the urban evolution of Besançon, with its garden and its commons organized on a levelling ground. The interior decorations, although redesigned, recall its original Rococo style, characteristic of the ecclesiastical elite private hotels of the time.

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