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Origin and history

The house in Richelieu, built in the seventeenth century, is part of the ambitious urban project of Cardinal Richelieu. The latter transformed his native village into an ideal city, designed by architect Jacques Lemercier. The regular plan, with ditches, walls and symmetrical streets, reflected the principles of classical urban planning of the time. The houses, aligned and standardized, were to embody the order and greatness desired by the cardinal.

This small three-span pavilion, with a central porch, included a shop on the square and a staircase serving the floor. Built in 1632 for Henri de Sourdis, archbishop of Bordeaux, he followed Lemercier's plans and was made by entrepreneur Jean Thiriot. The ensemble, though degraded today, illustrates the architectural unity imposed by Richelieu. A dwelling at the bottom of the courtyard, added in the eighteenth century, bears witness to later evolutions.

The façades, roofs and staircases in masonry and wood were protected by a registration order in 1992. This monument reflects both the fascist of the new city and subsequent adaptations, while maintaining the traces of Lemercier's initial project. Localization, Place du Marché, confirms its role in the commercial and social life of Richelieu.

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