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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Hotel Demians is a mansion built in the 18th century in Nîmes, Gard department. It is distinguished by its street façade, decorated with seven bays per floor, each with carved keys representing rock and human heads. The front door, framed with slits and surmounted by an arc in a circle segment, has a symmetrical decorative cartridge with foliage and volutes. The wooden vantals were carved with rinceaux, shells and C-shaped motifs, reflecting the artistic style of the time.

Inside, a corridor leads to an almost square courtyard, where there is access to a remarkable staircase. It is mounted on three floors and is equipped with a wrought iron railing uniformly decorated with curled volutes and plant- motifed florets. The ceiling of the stairwell retains plaster mouldings, potentially original. The hotel was sold to the commune of Nîmes in 1846 and annexed to the adjacent town hall, with only a modification of the entrance to the town hall courtyard.

The Hotel Demians has been listed as a historical monument since 19 March 1964, for its remarkable elements: the street façade (including the vants and the footbridge), the corresponding roof slope, and the wrought iron ramp of the staircase. The monument is now owned by the municipality. Its architecture and interior decorations bear witness to the refinement of 18th-century Nîmes private hotels, often linked to influential local personalities, as evidenced by the mention of a member of the Demians family who had been mayor of Nîmes in 1870-1871.

Available sources, including Wikipedia and Monumentum, highlight the heritage importance of this building, located at 4 Golden Street. Its state of conservation and architectural details make it a representative example of the art and urban history of Nîmes in modern times.

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