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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel Montescot is a private hotel built in the early seventeenth century in Chartres, in the district bounded by the rue de la Mairie and the rue au Lin. Its typical architecture of the era combines coated bellows, cut stones and decorative elements in brick, with slate attices decorated with dotted heads and skylights. The square courtyard, closed by a wall pierced by a monumental gate, is framed by a central house body and two wings in return, all organized around a ramp-on-rail staircase arched in a cradle.

The hotel was built around 1610 by Claude de Montescot, before becoming convent of the Ursulines in 1625, then an orphanage in 1762, and finally the town hall of Chartres. Its facades and roofs, remarkable for their decoration of bricks (pillars, frontons with winged geniuses, bust of Henry IV on the main door), were classified as historical monuments in 1939. Damaged by a fire in 1944 during World War II, the building was restored in 1951, preserving its architectural character in the Great Century.

The entrance gate, a masterpiece of the classic provincial style, is distinguished by its doric arch with fluted columns, its broken pediment with volutes, and its carved coat of arms. Inside, each wing of the courtyard features a richly decorated axial door, topped by aileron frontons and busts framed by geniuses. The central staircase, covered with arches in cradle of bricks and stones, illustrates the artisanal know-how of the period, mixing noble materials and symbolic decorations.

Ranked among the historical monuments for its architectural excellence, the Hotel Montescot embodies the evolution of urban uses: from aristocratic residence to place of worship, social assistance, and then municipal administration. Its history reflects the political and religious transformations of Chartres in the 17th and 18th centuries, while at the same time demonstrating the resilience of the heritage to modern conflicts.

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