Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

This building in Bourges, built in the second half of the 15th century, is an architectural testimony of the reconstruction following the fire of 1487. Its original structure includes a shop lit on two streets, without access corridor to the courtyard, and a stone staircase starting directly from the square. The treasure room, vaulted in a cradle and backed by the adjoining wall, communicated with the ground floor bedroom, reflecting a spatial organization typical of the bourgeois dwellings of the period.

The stone screw, the central element of the vertical distribution, originally served the cellar and today leads to the upper floors. It ends with a dovecote built in the height of the turret, a characteristic common in medieval urban buildings. The façade, probably with wooden panels under a dardoise dressing, and the return to the square suggest a harmonious integration into the urban fabric of Bourges, marked by its commercial and artisanal history.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1968 for its facades and roofs, this building illustrates the construction techniques and lifestyles of the late Middle Ages. Its location between Rue des Arènes, Place Planchat and Rue du Commerce underscores its anchoring in a dynamic neighbourhood, where commercial activities and habitat were closely intertwined. However, the accuracy of its location remains poor (level 5/10), limiting further geographical study.

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