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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Dassier hotel, located at 46 rue des Couteliers in Toulouse, is a private hotel dating back to the early eighteenth century. It was originally built for Jean-François de Tournier, cleric adviser at the Toulouse Parliament. This monument is best known for its main staircase, adorned with a wrought iron ramp made in 1778 by Joseph Bosc, famous iron master of the eighteenth century. This ramp, classified as a Historic Monument in 1927, is distinguished by its oval openwork motifs, alternating with laurel flames and compositions of quivers, torches and oak crowns, all connected by plant garlands.

In the 19th century, the hotel was profoundly redesigned by Pierre-Marie Dassier, who gave it its current name. Changes made between 1830 and 1860 transformed the façade on the street, where bays in full hanger supported by pilasters with ionic and Corinthian capitals were added. The portal, probably inherited from the 18th century, retains a characteristic alternation of bricks and stones. Despite these changes, Joseph Bosc's staircase ramp remains the most emblematic element of the building, bearing witness to the Toulouse craftsmanship of the time.

The Dassier hotel is part of the broader context of Toulouse private hotels, which reflect the opulence and ambitions of local elites, including parliamentarians and merchants enriched by the pastel trade. These urban residences, often redesigned over the centuries, illustrate the evolution of architectural tastes, from Gothic to Renaissance, then to classical and eclectic styles of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Dassier hotel, with its exceptional ramp, thus embodies both the artistic heritage of the Enlightenment century and the urban transformations of Toulouse in the 19th century.

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