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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel Pas de Beaulieu is located in a medieval area of Montpellier, intersected in the 13th century by Rue Saint-Firmin, an axis linking the shopping districts to the castle. Originally, two 17th-century houses occupied the site: one acquired in 1618, the other in 1672, before being unified under the same owner. These houses were sold in 1717 and bought in 1748 by François Pas de Beaulieu, an adviser to the Court of Auditors, who probably added the monumental staircase and the facade decorated with wrought iron grilles to the initials between P and D (his initials and his wife's).

The main facade, sober and symmetrical, is organized on two floors and a ground floor, with three bays aligned per level. The windows on the first floor are distinguished by their carved keys and their wrought iron support grilles. The interior reveals a remarkable staircase, composed of three straight flights per floor, supported by arches in basket handle and sculpted lamp-butts of foliage. The bearings, worn by bows and pendants, illustrate rare structural ingenuity, while the square balusters and mouldings adorn the whole with elegance.

The archives report that in 1672, a release mentioned the construction of a large staircase under the direction of architect Antoine Giral, on behalf of Jean Vivens, lawyer and owner of the premises. After 1717, the bourgeois Jean-Jacques Duveil probably undertook the renovation of the facade. No visible trace of the original medieval houses remains, but their fusion in the 17th century laid the foundations of the present hotel. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1964, the building now protects its facade, gates and staircase, private properties.

The site occupies a symbolic place in the urban evolution of Montpellier, where the consolidation of medieval plots in favour of private hotels reflects the social ascent of the bourgeoisie and royal officers in the 17th and 18th centuries. The initials in wrought iron, the arches in basket handle and the vegetable sculptures bear witness to a refined art of living, combining functionality and decoration, characteristic of the aristocratic residences of the Old Regime.

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