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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 its native village into an ideal city, designed according to strict geometric principles: symmetrical streets, ditches, ramparts and monumental gates. The architect Jacques Lemercier, already in charge of the castle, drew up the plans of this new city, where each element, including bourgeois houses, had to reflect order and harmony.

The house located 24 Place des Religious embodies this rigorous architectural model. Its facades and roofs, protected by decrees of 1932 and 1991, testify to the classic aesthetics of the seventeenth century. The west-on-court facade and the south-facing façade overlooking Jarry Street are particularly remarkable, highlighting the importance attached to symmetry and alignment in the urban project.

The cardinal of Richelieu, in creating this city, sought to embody his power and political vision. Richelieu thus became a laboratory of urban planning, where architecture served as both a decor and a tool for social control. Houses, like this one, were designed to integrate into a coherent whole, reflecting the ambition of a man who long-term marked the history of France.

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