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 drew a chessboard plan centered on a large rectangular square, surrounded by arcade shops and public buildings. Two large pavilions were planned on each large side of the square, but only those housing the town hall (1777) and another building were built. The other two were replaced by a post office hotel in 1900.

The place, designed in precise geometric proportions, was to symbolize order and regularity after the chaos of the fire. The facades and roofs of the buildings overlooking the square, as well as their return to the streets of Chartres and Toutfaire, were protected by an order of 18 August 1953. These buildings, higher than the nearby houses, marked a desire for urban beautification and modernization, typical of the reconstructions of the eighteenth century.

The exact address of the building concerned is 34 place of October 18, in the department of Eure-et-Loir (28). This site illustrates post-fire civil architecture, combining commercial utility (archives) and municipal prestige (stone town hall). The current GPS location corresponds to an accuracy that is considered satisfactory a priori, although adjustments may be necessary for an accurate identification of the original plots.

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