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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The hotel of Jean Galland, also called the king's silver hotel or hotel Babou de la Bourdaisière, is a Renaissance mansion located at 8-10 Place Foire-le-Roi in Tours. Built in 1520 for Philibert Babou, the Superintendent of Finance of François I, and his wife Marie Gaudin, it illustrates the architecture of the first Renaissance with its pilasters, antique medallions and shelled skylights. The building, partially renovated in the 17th and 18th centuries, preserves a vaulted loggia and an interior courtyard adorned with a 14th century gallery, the last vestige of the Augustine convent destroyed in 1940.

A tradition combines the hotel with Jean Galland, goldsmith of Kings Louis XI and Charles VIII, although it was built for Philibert Babou. In the 17th century, the Roze family and then the Pinon family, including Gatien Pinon, treasurer of France, made major modifications: a carved gate, a wrought iron ramp dated 1701, and interior woodwork. The hotel then changed hands several times, passing between those of traders such as Louis Béranger or André-René Mayaud, before sheltering in the 20th century the Archaeological Society of Touraine, thanks to a donation by André Goüin.

Ranked a historic monument since 1 July 1932, the hotel is distinguished by its U-shaped plan, with a housing body perpendicular to the street, flanked by two wings surrounding a main courtyard. The rear façade, redone in the 17th century, contrasts with Renaissance elements such as the scauguettes and the vaulted kitchen. After its acquisition by the Archaeological Society, the hotel was sold in 2004, allowing the preservation of the chapel Saint-Libert. Today it is privately owned and bears witness to the evolution of urban hotels between Renaissance and modern times.

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