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Origin and history

The house of Richelieu, built in the seventeenth century, is part of the ambitious urban project of Cardinal Richelieu. The latter transformed his native village into a new city, designed according to a rigorous geometrical plan, with symmetrical streets, ditches and monumental gates. The architect Jacques Lemercier, already in charge of the castle, drew up the plans, thus marking the history of French urban planning.

The mansion, built after 1635, was initially awarded to two distinct beneficiaries: Jacques de Vassan, treasurer of the casual parts, and Claude Cornuel, Sieur de Lamarche, through acts dated 21 November 1633. However, the archives suggest that the project was not completed for these recipients. The house, deeply renovated, preserves original elements such as a staircase parallel to the porch and a wooden scallop giving access to the attic.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1932 for its facade and roof, this house illustrates the architectural heritage of Richelieu. Its present state reflects successive transformations, including the conversion of the commons into dwellings. The location on the Grande-Rue, at the heart of the original urban plan, bears witness to the central vision of the cardinal and his architect.

The historical context reveals a city conceived as a symbol of power, where each element – from the walls of walls to aligned houses – responded to an aesthetic and political logic. Richelieu thus became a laboratory of urban planning, foreshadowing the principles of the ideal cities of the Renaissance and French classicism.

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