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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel de Polignac is a neo-classical mansion built in Condom between 1780 and 1785, on the order of Abbé Jean Marie d'Orlan de Polignac, Prior of Saint Martin de Layrac. His income, insufficient to complete the work, led him to ruin. The architecture is inspired by Parisian hotels, with a central body and two wings surrounding a courtyard closed by a wall with doric columns and wrought iron grids. The western facade, on two levels, dominates a vaulted basement base, while the central forebody is marked by geminated ion columns, a wrought iron balcony and a triangular pediment.

Acquired by the Laterrade family in the 19th century, the hotel was transferred to the municipality of Condom in 1882 to set up a school for boys, today the Jules-Ferry public elementary school. Ranked a historic monument in 1990 for its architecture and interior decoration (gypseries), it benefited in 2018 from the Heritage Lotto. The protection includes street fence, gate, and decoration of the southwest room on the ground floor.

The construction reflects the ambition of the Abbé de Polignac, whose ecclesiastical resources (priorate of Saint Martin de Layrac) are not sufficient to cover the costs. The hotel illustrates the neo-classical provincial style, adapted to local uses: aristocratic residence became a school. Its portal, with doric columns and ironwork, as well as the interior gypseries, bear witness to an exceptional craft for the time.

A communal property since the 19th century, the hotel in Polignac retains a dual vocation: architectural heritage and teaching place. Its 1990 ranking underscores the value of its ion columned forebody, its wrought iron balcony, and its triangular pediment, characteristic of late neo-classicism in Occitanie.

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