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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Digeon House, located in Alet-les-Bains in Aude, is a civil building dating from the first half of the seventeenth century. This building illustrates the period's domestic architecture, with a street façade marked by an ancient vantal door decorated with diamond-shaped nails. The frame of this door, formed by a thick protruding boudin, bears witness to a craftsmanship typical of the period. The house is classified as Historic Monument, although its interior was destroyed by fire around 1930.

The courtyard façade, which remains intact, has a remarkable symmetry. On the ground floor and on the floors, four windows arranged in a balanced way frame the central axis. The bays on the lower floors are crossed-sleeve windows, decorated with ground frames and crossettes at the upper corners. On the upper floor, low and twin windows, separated by vertical sills, complete this harmonious composition. These architectural elements reflect the aesthetic and technical canons of 17th-century civil architecture in Languedoc.

The protection of the House of Digeon specifically covers its facade on courtyard and roof, listed in the inventory of Historic Monuments by order of 5 April 1948. This classification underscores the heritage value of these elements, despite the loss of interior during the 1930s fire. Today, the house remains a valuable testimony of the urban history of Alet-les-Bains, although its current use (visit, rental, accommodation) is not specified in the available sources.

The geographical coordinates and the exact address (2 Rue Calvière) allow to situate the monument in the historical fabric of the municipality. The accuracy of its location is estimated to be "passible" (note 5/10), which may reflect minor uncertainties in mapping data. The house is thus part of the built heritage of Aude, a region marked by a rich medieval and modern history, where bourgeois houses and religious buildings still coexist today.

The historical context of Alet-les-Bains, an ancient episcopal city, adds an additional dimension to the importance of the House of Digeon. In the 17th century, this region of Languedoc was a crossroads of cultural and economic influences, where civil architecture reflected both local prosperity and exchanges with other French regions. The houses of that time often served as residences for notables or merchants, playing a central role in the social and economic life of cities.

Finally, Maison Digeon embodies the challenges of heritage preservation. Despite the damage suffered in the 20th century, its protected facade and roof offer a tangible overview of 17th century construction techniques and decorative styles. This monument recalls the importance of keeping these testimonies of the past, even partial ones, for future generations and for the understanding of architectural evolution in Occitanie.

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