Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The hotel of Nayrac, originally called Hotel Oulès, was built from 1635 for the rich family of Oulès drapiers, on a land resulting from the destruction of three houses in 1620. This project is part of the reconstruction of Castres after the wars of Religion, when the city, energized by the creation of a royal court under Henry IV, saw the flourishing of homes for wealthy magistrates and merchants. The building, made of white stone and carpentry brick, combines Toulouse Renaissance influences and annoyances of the Louis XIII style, with sills, pilasters, and a square tower-belvedere.

Acquired in 1643 by Jean de Thomas de Labarthe (First Consul of Castres in 1656), then sold in 1753 to Nayrac's family for 18,000 pounds, the hotel reflects the ambitions of the local elites. Its classical plan — three wings around a courtyard closed by an oculus portal — and its architectural details (turns in a quarter of a circle, a corbelled lodge) bear witness to the commercial and judicial prestige of Castres in the 17th century. The arcades of the north wing also recall the commercial activity of its original sponsor.

Ranked a historic monument in 1937, the hotel of Nayrac is distinguished by its facades on courtyard and on street, its roofs, and its monumental gate in the middle of the hangar flanked by bossed pilasters. The materials (apparent brick with ribbon joints) and the symmetry of the openings (crumb windows, pediments) underline its status as a remarkable example of late Renaissance civil architecture in Occitanie. Its state of conservation and its protected elements make it a key witness to the Castrian heritage.

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