Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The house at 16 Parmentier Street in Narbonne was a remarkable example of 17th century civil architecture. The compound of 1696 (Île Saint-Crépin) located Gabriel Loys, canon of Saint Paul. Its facades had trimmings in cut rubble, while the first floor had two large rectangular windows divided by a vertical wooden stud. These openings were framed by alternately bossed harpsets, typical of Narbonne at that time: the long harps offered a flat protruding with rectangular contours underlined by a groove, while the short harps formed square protrudings connected by concave cylindrical tabs.

Around 1780, the property passed to the religious of Fontfroide, suggesting a change of vocation or social status of the building. Archives indicate that the house did not yet exist in 1576, confirming its construction during the seventeenth century. The upper frame of the windows, fitted in a flat-band, resumed the same arrangement as the leggings, with trapezes following the oblique joints. Despite its heritage interest, the building was destroyed in 1976 to give way to a parking lot, thus erasing a major testimony of Narbon's urban history.

Construction techniques, such as hopper bosses, were particularly common in Narbonne in the 17th century. These architectural details reflected both aesthetic research and local craftsmanship. The house also illustrated the ecclesiastical property dynamics in the region, with actors such as the canons of Saint Paul or the religious of Fontfroide, often involved in the real estate heritage. Its disappearance in 1976 marks an irreversible loss to the city's built heritage, symbolizing the tensions between urban modernization and historical preservation.

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