Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Nicolas Flamel's house, nicknamed "le grand gignon", is located at 51 rue de Montmorency in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. Built between 1397 and 1407, it was built by Nicolas Flamel, a wealthy Parisian bourgeois, after the death of his wife Pernelle. Destined to house a business on the ground floor and the poor on the floors, it imposed morning and vesperal prayers on them in honor of the couple. An inscription in frieze, dated 1407, confirms this vocation.

Although other Parisian houses were proposed as older (such as the 3 rue Volta, originally dated around 1300 but finally estimated around 1650), Flamel's house remains the oldest remains dated with certainty. Its façade, which has been listed as a historic monument since 1911, has undergone modifications, including the loss of its large gable during the 1900 Universal Exhibition. Today, it houses a gourmet restaurant, the Auberge Nicolas Flamel, run by star chef Alan Geaam.

The interior architecture retains traces of its original layout: two side doors for shops and a central door leading to the floors via a circular staircase. The leggings of the doors, adorned with sculptures (persons with phylacteries, musical angels), bear Flamel's initials. The inscription under the cornice recalls the obligation of prayer for the residents, reflecting the piety and charity of the sponsor.

Historical studies, such as those of Auguste Bernard (1852) or Marcel Aubert (1912), highlight its heritage importance. Despite its alterations, it bears witness to medieval Parisian urbanism and the charitable practices of the time, mixing housing, commerce and devotion.

Future

A restaurant, "The Nicolas Flamel Inn", currently occupies the house.

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