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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Hotel Fabri, located in Martel in the Lot (Occitanie), is a historic monument registered in 1990. According to an undocumented local tradition, it was built at the end of the 12th century by Étienne Fabri, a wealthy bourgeois, to welcome Henri Court-Mantel, son of Henry II and Alienor d'Aquitaine, who died in 1183 after looting Rocamadour. There is no evidence of this anecdote, but remains of a medieval building (XIII-XIV centuries) remain on the eastern and southern facades.

The present building, built between 1520 and 1550, preserves a semi-out-of-date staircase tower, typical of the Renaissance, with five floors and defensive mouths. The ground floor housed shops, while the upper floors served residential rooms, including one heated by a 17th-century fireplace. A second narrow screw, next to the tower, leads to a circular piece at the top.

The tower, known as "Henri Court-Mantel", is one of the seven towers of the former Precinct of Martel, a prosperous city after the Hundred Years War. Its modenature (ionic pilasters, triangular pediments) and half-crossed rods date back to the early 16th century, although older elements (elevated door, small-scale masonry) suggest medieval origins. The windows of the facade, remodeled, bear witness to subsequent developments (XVIII century).

The hotel illustrates Martel's architectural evolution from a defensive and commercial function (traders, craftsmen on the ground floor) to a bourgeois residence. Its inscription in historic monuments in 1990 protects the tower and the adjacent building body, highlighting its heritage interest in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

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