Timeline

Origin and history

The houses at 48 rue Colbert in Tours date mainly from the 15th century. They have a typical structure of medieval urban buildings, with a ground floor and three floors, the last of which is located in the attic. The horn posts, some adorned with angelel heads, bear witness to their original architectural style. The facade on the street, initially covered with slate around 1918, was then masked by a coating imitating the stone. These successive changes reflect changes in tastes and restoration techniques over the centuries.

The house body located at the bottom of the plot seems to date from the end of the sixteenth century, indicating an extension or partial reconstruction of the whole. The link gallery, for its part, might have been added after the seventeenth century, suggesting a gradual adaptation of the spaces to the needs of the occupants. A restoration carried out around 1980 revealed a piece of wood with a brick filling, thus revealing original structural elements that had been hidden for a long time. This work has helped preserve and enhance this emblematic heritage of the historic centre of Tours.

Classified as a Historic Monument, these houses saw their south facade and roofs protected by a registration order dated 8 July 1946. This status underlines their heritage importance, both for their architecture and for their representativeness of bourgeois or artisanal houses of the Renaissance in Touraine. Their location in the heart of Tours, a city marked by a rich medieval and reborn past, makes it a valuable testimony to the urban and architectural evolution of the Centre-Val de Loire region.

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