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Origin and history

The Petit de Marivat hotel is a mansion built in 1732 in the historic centre of Besançon, Place Jean Cornet, by the Parisian architect Jean-François Blondel. Sponsored by François-Michel Petit de Marivat, war commissioner, he embodies the "Paris style" with a "U" plan that frames a courtyard and a garden. Its gate adorned with a bearded lion's mulled head and its ironware balconies reflect the refinement of the era.

The monument was marked by the birth on 1 May 1839 of Count Hilaire de Chardonnet, inventor of artificial silk, which was born there. In the 19th century, the hotel housed Jules Vautherin, master of forges and industrialists, before being partially occupied by the Sisters of Charity in the 20th century. Since July 8, 1942, it has retained remarkable architectural elements such as a iron staircase and a well in the courtyard.

The archives reveal that the land, acquired by Madame de Marivat's aunts from the Monnier de Noronte family, was formerly linked to the Temple Commandery. Two facade elevations at Besançon municipal library confirm the allocation of the plans to Blondel. The hotel, built in stone with attices and a basement, illustrates the influence of Parisian and military architecture in a strategic city like Besançon.

Over the centuries, the Petit de Marivat hotel has had various uses: aristocratic residence, birthplace of a major inventor, and then religious property. Its state of conservation and its interior decorations (secondary staircase in frame, on the ground floor) testify to its adaptation to the needs of its occupants, while preserving its original character.

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