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Origin and history

The house of Richelieu, built in the seventeenth century, is part of the ambitious urban project launched by Cardinal Richelieu. The latter transformed his native village into an ideal city, designed by architect Jacques Lemercier, with a rigorous geometrical plan: ditches, ramparts, monumental gates and symmetrical streets lined with aligned houses. The building, probably intended for Michel Lemasle, Prior of the Rocks, was erected according to Lemercier's plans, although his contractor remains anonymous. Work had not begun in August 1633, and the building underwent major subsequent changes, including internal divisions and a fragmented redistribution of spaces.

The private hotel, partially protected by the Historical Monuments, illustrates the classical architecture of the period. Its facades and roofs on street, as well as its wooden staircase with balusters, were inscribed in 1932 and 1992. The property, now shared between the state, private individuals and a private company, bears witness to the urban heritage of Richelieu, where each element reflected the cardinal's desire for greatness and order. The successive modifications, such as the division of floors, altered its original unit, but kept traces of its original design.

The location of the house, between the Grande-Rue, Place du Marché and Rue des Écluses, highlights its integration into the planned urban fabric. Richelieu, with its coherent architectural ensemble, was intended to embody power and modernity under Louis XIII. Although the sources do not specify the exact use of this building, its strict alignment and stylistic features make it a representative example of the bourgeois or ecclesiastical houses of the new city. The successive protections aim to preserve these emblematic elements, despite the transformations that have been undergone over the centuries.

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