Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

On 21 June 1723 a fire ravaged Châteaudun, destroying more than a thousand houses. Jules Hardouin, building controller, was responsible for the reconstruction of the city centre. He designed a chessboard plan centered on a large rectangular square, surrounded by arcade shops and regular houses. Two large public buildings, including the Town Hall (1777), were erected in stone on the long sides of the square.

Four pavilions were initially to mark the corners of the square, higher than the neighbouring houses. Only the city hall and another building remain today; The two pavilions on the opposite side were replaced by a post office hotel built in 1900. The facades and roofs of the building located 7 Place du 18-October, with a return to the adjacent streets, were inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1953.

The square, designed according to precise geometric principles, illustrates the rational urban planning of the eighteenth century. Its large side is almost equivalent to the diagonal of a square built on the small side, reflecting a will of order and symmetry. The arcades probably housed shops, driving local economic life after the disaster.

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