Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Mansencal Hotel, located at 1 rue Espinasse in Toulouse, is a mansion built between 1527 and 1547 for Jean de Mansencal, adviser and then first president of the Toulouse Parliament. This monument illustrates the Toulouse Renaissance architecture, with a 30 metre staircase tower and a facade on a garden decorated with superimposed pilasters (doric, ionic, Corinthian). In the 17th and 19th centuries, it was thoroughly remodeled and partially integrated into the Dominican convent in 1874, before being preserved as part of the private college Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin.

Jean de Mansencal, owner of the hotel, bought several houses from 1527 to build this building, completed before 1547. After his death in 1562, the hotel passed to his widow, Jeanne de Vidal-Miremont, and then to the Caminade family, of which Philippe (1637-1653), poet and president of Parliament, continued to expand. In the 17th century, the hotel houses the Lanternist Society, a Toulouse literary circle. In the 19th century, it became a boarding house for young girls and was bought by the Dominicans in 1874, who partially destroyed its facade on a garden to extend their convent.

The street façade, sober with its rectangular windows and cochère door with canned pilasters, contrasts with the facade on garden, formerly composed of five spans reduced to two today. The staircase tower, squared outside but housing a circular staircase, ends with a curved vault and a terrace. The interior decorations, like the greys of the upper room, bear witness to Renaissance refinement. Partially listed as historical monuments in 1925, the hotel retains traces of its Dominican occupation, including a neo-Gothic church that is now extinct.

The major changes occurred after the Revolution: the hotel passed into the hands of parliamentary families, then of the Bertier pension and Henri IV college. In 1879 the Dominicans, led by architect Henri Bach, joined the hotel in their convent by destroying three spans of the facade on garden. After their departure in 1968, part of the site was replaced by a modern residence (1968-72), while the Renaissance remains, including the iconic tower, remained within the Collège Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin.

The Mansencal Hotel embodies the alliance between parliamentary power and artistic patronage in Toulouse in the 16th century. Its history reflects urban change, from 17th century literary circles to modern urbanization, while preserving rare architectural elements, such as the superimposition of orders or the helical staircase tower. Its inscription in 1925 underscores its heritage value, despite the alterations suffered.

External links