Timeline

Heritage classified

Origin and history

The 13th century House, located in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, is an example of medieval civil architecture. Built on a barlong plan, it includes a basement, a ground floor and a floor. The main façade has a large arch in third-point, characteristic of the Gothic period. In the east, a door with a third-point arch, formerly accessible by an external staircase now gone, marks the secondary entrance. A gemini window, decorated with a stone column, illuminates one of the rooms on the ground floor, while a wooden staircase serves the floor.

The floor reproduces the layout of the ground floor, with two large rooms separated by a wooden panel filled with torchi. The room overlooking the street is illuminated by a window added in the 16th century, reflecting a later architectural evolution. The facades and roofs of this house were inscribed in the Historic Monuments by decree of November 17, 1929, highlighting their heritage value. The building thus illustrates medieval construction techniques, mixing stone and wood, in a village now ranked among the most beautiful in France.

Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, perched on a cliff overlooking the Lot, was a strategic place in the Middle Ages, marked by a prosperous craft and an active business. Houses such as this were used both as a dwelling, a workshop and sometimes as a storage place for local merchants or artisans. Their robust structure, adapted to topographical constraints, reflects the economic and social importance of these medieval villages, often organised around a dominant activity, such as leather or textile work in this region.

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