Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Hotel de Campan, located at 43 rue Saint-Guilhem in Montpellier, is a historical monument dating back to the early seventeenth century. Around 1600, it belonged to Jean Campan, receiver-general of the decimes, before being profoundly reshaped in 1760. This restoration includes the construction of a monumental staircase and the redesign of the façade on street, giving the building its present appearance, characteristic of the 3rd quarter of the 18th century. The building occupies a trapeze-shaped plot, with a vestibule leading to a spectacular stairwell, accessible by a basket handle arch.

The stairway, the main building of the hotel, is distinguished by its complex and dissymmetrical helical structure, designed to create an illusion of harmonious perspective. Four doric-style curved columns, superimposed on three floors, support spiral silts via cubic capitals. The central core, oval in shape with uneven ends, connects bearings of varying lengths (2 to 4 meters) thanks to ingenious architectural artifice: degree offsets, jogging games, and balèvres at connections. On the upper floor, four pilasters maintain a wrought iron ramp adorned with rolled volutes, attached by flat rings to straight bars. This staircase, inscribed in the Historical Monuments since 1964, illustrates the know-how of 18th century artisans.

Although the hotel was associated with Jean Campan in the 17th century, its reconstruction in 1760 partially erased the traces of this initial period. The source text also mentions Antoine Bonnier, wool merchant and size collector in the diocese of Castres, as owner from 1667, but details of his involvement in the construction remain unclear. The building, now protected for its staircase and wrought iron ramp, bears witness to Montpellier's architectural evolution, between medieval heritage and classical innovations. Its location in the city centre, on a small plot, reflects the urban constraints of the era, where the ingenuity of architects allowed to reconcile aesthetics and functionality in restricted spaces.

External links