Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Hotel de La Salle, built from 1545 by the bourgeois and trading in sheet Henri Choilly, is a remarkable example of Renaissance architecture in Reims. Its facade, adorned with doric pilasters on the ground floor and ionic on the floor, as well as its inner courtyard with a spiral staircase with a brick turret (1556-1557), reflect the influence of antiquity. The decoration recalls the triglyphs and canned pilasters, characteristic of this artistic period.

Acquired in 1609 by the family of La Salle, this mansion became the home of Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, born April 30, 1651. Born from a line of noble magistrates – his father, Louis de La Salle, was a king's adviser to the presidial of Reims – he lived there for his first thirteen years before founding, in the eighteenth century, the institute of the Brothers of Christian Schools. This place thus symbolizes its commitment to the education of the disadvantaged, marked by its renunciation of a prestigious ecclesiastical career.

Damaged during the bombings of 1914-1918, the hotel owes its restoration to Jean Lhose, director of the Maison Fossier, who financed its rehabilitation in 1920 under the direction of architects Marc Margotin and Louis Roubert. Ranked a historic monument this year, it now houses a Brothers' research centre, including a library. A statue of Saint John the Baptist, added in 1952, now adorns its facade. After a restoration campaign in 2014, a museum trail traces the history of the institute and its founder.

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