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Origin and history

Hotel Pépin de Bellisle is a neo-classical residential building built between 1773 and 1776 in Nantes, on the plans of architect Jean-Baptiste Ceineray. Sponsored by Julien Pépin de Bellisle, a sailor enriched by a slave plantation in Santo Domingo, he is part of a vast urban project aimed at symetricizing the Place d'Armes (now Marshal-Foch Square). Ceineray imposes a symmetrical architecture on that of the hotel Ceineray, which it designed for speculative reasons, and refuses the extension desired by the owner towards the Place de l'Oratoire.

Although called a "hotel", the building combines a private apartment on the first floor with rental spaces, bringing it closer to a bourgeois "house". Its stables on the ground floor housed horses and carriages, reflecting the social status of its owners. Bellisle's Pépin family retained the property until World War II. Today, the building is divided among several owners, including descendants of the family.

The building, built in tuffeau and granite, is distinguished by its triangular plot, imposed by the symmetry of the Place d'Armes. Its facades and roofs, decorated with independent balconies on the upper floors, have been listed as historical monuments since 1957. The interior courtyard, open on Gambetta Street, and the monumental staircase distributing the rooms testify to its prestige. Original plans are kept in the municipal archives of Nantes.

Between 2002 and 2005, the interior courtyard and façade on Gambetta Street were restored. The hotel is part of an 18th-century urban complex, close to the cathedral bedside, in an area marked by the amenities of Ceineray and the architect Vigny. These walks planted with abalone and lime trees, bordered by harmonized buildings, illustrate the ambitious urban planning of the time.

The fortune of Julien Pépin de Bellisle, linked to slavery in the colonies, recalls the economic ties between Nantes and Santo Domingo in the 18th century. The hotel, symbol of this prosperity, also embodies the contradictions of the Ancien Régime, where architectural luxury coexists with controversial colonial activities. Its designation as historic monuments in 1957 underscores its heritage importance, despite these complex heritages.

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