Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house in Pontgibaud, classified as a Historical Monument, stands out for its facade on the rue de la Gendarmerie, the only one to have kept its original openings above the ground floor. The window on the first floor, especially well preserved, has a cross-section, a prominent support and a mulled frame decorated with a net freed by cellars. Its top corners, rounded, form a small accolade tip in the centre of the lintel, while two engraved triangles, surmounted by a relief button, frame this opening. These architectural details reflect the neat craftsmanship of the late 15th century, a period of construction attested by the sources.

The most emblematic element of the building remains its polygonal scald, supported by a cul-de-lampe at the corner of both facades. This corbelled turret, pierced with four small chamfered windows (two per slice cut), ends with a cellar cornice and a pepper roof. The church, typical of defensive architecture and medieval observation, illustrates the adaptation of bourgeois or urban houses to the needs of surveillance and prestige at that time. Its state of conservation, though partial, allows to appreciate the construction techniques and aesthetic cannons of late flamboyant Gothic.

The protection of this monument, limited to the façade on street (including the staguette) and the corresponding roof, was formalized by an order of inscription on 1 March 1973. This recognition highlights the heritage importance of the building, despite the loss or transformation of other parts of the building. The precise location, at the corner of the rue de la Gendarmerie and the Place de la Chabanne, places the house in the heart of the historic village of Pontgibaud, in the Puy-de-Dôme, a department marked by a rich medieval and industrial past.

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