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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Hotel de Bernis is an emblematic civil building in Nîmes, located at 3 and 5 rue de Bernis, in the Gard department. Built on a 15th-century structure, it retains a street façade with typical sill windows of this period. Its interior fittings, notably on the ground floor, date from the seventeenth century, when it was transformed into a private hotel.

The late Renaissance interior courtyard reflects the influence of the Louis XIII era. It presents a Palladian ordinance inspired by the temple of Diane, with arches in the middle of the hang, engaged pilasters and triangular or circular pediments alternating. The windows on the first floor, pierced in brick walls, are surmounted by these frontons, while oval oculi adorn the spaces between them.

Originally, this building was the family home of Cardinal Bernis, a historical figure linked to Nîmes. The rooms on the ground floor, mostly vaulted, contrast with those on the first floor, arranged simultaneously with the work of the courtyard. The chimneys, added in the 18th century, come from various places and illustrate the later evolutions of the building.

Ranked among the oldest private hotels in Nîmes, the Hotel de Bernis combines late Gothic elements with classical influences. Enlisted as historical monuments in 1999, it bears witness to the Nîmes civil architecture, between medieval heritage and adaptations of the 17th and 18th centuries.

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