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Origin and history

The hotel of Clermont-Tonnerre in Châtillon-sur-Seine has its origin in a chapel of the convent of Ursulines, founded in the seventeenth century. The first stone was laid in 1630 by Anne of Austria, Queen of France, and the building was consecrated in 1640. This convent, dedicated to education and religious life, marks the influence of monastic orders in the region at that time.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, a fire ravaged the chapel, causing its conversion into a bourgeois dwelling. The spaces are then converted into living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens, reflecting the evolution of urban usage. In 1848, the decoration of the large living room on the first floor was redone, reflecting the artistic tastes of the period.

The history of the hotel is also marked by military and cultural events. In 1870 he was requisitioned by the Uhlans, Prussian cavalry, during the Franco-German war. Later, in 1885, the sculptor Roger de Villiers was born there, adding an artistic dimension to his legacy. The building was finally listed as a historic monument in 2001, thus preserving its architectural and historical heritage.

The hotel's architecture preserves traces of its religious and civil past. Among the protected elements are the balcony and columns of the eastern facade, the wall of the southern chapel with its liturgical pool, as well as the porch, stairs and half-moon gate. These details illustrate the transition from a place of worship to an aristocratic residence, characteristic of the 17th and 18th century urban transformations.

Today, the hotel in Clermont-Tonnerre remains a private property, not open to the visit. Its inscription in the Historic Monuments covers the entire building, including gardens and fence walls, highlighting its heritage importance. The rue du Bourg-à-Mont, where it is located, thus perpetuates the memory of a religious, military and residential place.

The region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, to which Châtillon-sur-Seine belongs, was in the seventeenth century a crossroads of religious, political and economic influences. The convents, like the Ursulines, played a central role in the education of young girls from the aristocracy or the bourgeoisie. Their transformation into private hotels in the next century reflected social changes and changes of power, especially after the French Revolution.

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