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Origin and history

The Cher Prefecture Hotel in Bourges is the former palace of the Duke Jean de Berry, rebuilt at the end of the 14th century by architects Guy de Dammartin and then Drouet de Dammartin. This ducal complex initially consisted of three parts: the Grand Palace, the Petit Palais (aligned on the Grand Palace), and the Sainte-Chapelle (perpendicular, connected by the gallery to the Cerf adorned with a heraldic deer). The Grand Palace, built on horseback on the Gallo-Roman ramparts, housed a majestic hall heated by three monumental chimneys. The Sainte-Chapelle, begun around 1375 by Guy de Dammartin and completed by his brother around 1398, was consecrated in 1405 before being destroyed in 1757 after fires and storms.

When the Duke died in 1416, the palace became royal property. Dolphin Charles VII, a refugee in Bourges in 1418 to escape the Bourguignons, made it his capital and resided there with his court. His son, the future Louis XI, was born there in 1423 (although some historians evoke the ancient archiepiscopal palace). The palace will then house royal prisons, then departmental prisons after the Revolution. In the 19th century, restored remains became the seat of the departmental council of the Cher, while the room of the Duke John — the former hall of the Apparatus — today hosts the meetings of the council.

Ranked a historic monument in 1895, the building retains remarkable elements: a vaulted floor, carved band fragments, a door with ducal coat of arms, and two monumental chimneys. The windows and windows networks, destroyed, left traces in the walls. The King's house, built by Louis XI in 1468 from a house purchased by John de Berry in 1396, completes this ensemble. Berry's Intense was there in the 17th century before the building became the Cher prefecture in 1800.

The palace illustrates the medieval civil architecture of high rank, combining residential, religious (Sainte-Chapelle) and symbolic (Cerf Gallery). Its location near the Grosse tower of Philippe Auguste and on the old ramparts underscores its strategic importance. The successive transformations — prisons, archives, prefectures — reflect its adaptation to political needs, from the Duchy of Berry to modern administration.

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