Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The hotel of Nevers originated in the Mazarin Palace, built from 1643 by Cardinal Mazarin. The latter, tenant of the Hotel Tubeuf rue des Petits-Champs, entrusts architect Pierre Le Muet and Maurizio Valperga with the construction of a 144-metre wing along Rue de Richelieu, intended for stables and its library. Completed in 1648, this wing is connected to the Tubeuf Hotel by a cross. On the death of Mazarin in 1661, his nephew Philippe Mancini, Duke of Nevers, inherited this part, which then took the name of Hotel de Nevers. The cardinal's library, left at the Collège des Quatre-Nations, opened to the public in 1691.

In 1683, faced with financial difficulties, the Duke of Nevers distributed part of the land, creating Rue Neuve Mazarine (future rue Colbert). The wing is shortened and an arch is built to span the new street. In 1698, the Marquise de Lambert rented five spans of the former library, where she held a renowned literary salon, frequented by Fontenelle, Montesquieu or Marivaux until her death in 1733. Meanwhile, the hotel changed hands several times: sold in 1697 to Jean de Varennes, bought by the king in 1716, then transferred to John Law in 1719 to install the Royal Bank.

After the bankruptcy of Law in 1720, Nevers Hotel was awarded to the Royal Library, which moved its collections there between 1721 and 1722. The architect Robert de Cotte enlarged the new Gallery (1725–35), while Jacques V Gabriel built the Cabinet of Medals in 1741, decorated with woodwork and paintings by Verberckt, Boucher and Van Loo. The hotel also houses the Paris Stock Exchange from 1724. In the 19th century, Henri Labrouste, architect of the National Library, destroyed almost entirely the wing in 1869 to build the Richelieu wing, retaining only the northern end, now classified as a historical monument (1992).

The current remains, reduced to three spans on Rue Colbert, still house BnF services. The court preserves the House of Abbé Barthélemy, a former stable transformed into a dwelling for the guard of the Cabinet of Medals. In 2011, a photographic space project was planned and then abandoned in 2012. The BnF is now planning to install university premises after renovation.

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