Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Périgueux courthouse was built between 1829 and 1839 to replace the former civil and criminal courts located in Place du Coderc, near the town hall. Designed by architect Louis Catoire, it adopts a neoclassical style marked by a tetrastyle portal inspired by the temple of Athena Niké in Athens. Materials come from local quarries, such as those of Notre-Dame-de-Sanilhac and Chamiers.

The building, rectangular and 56 meters long, is organized around an interior cross plan, visible from the outside by the alignment of the roofs. Its peristyle, preceded by a staircase and now closed by a wrought iron gate installed in 2001, leads to a vestibule with a monumental staircase and the Pas-Perdus Hall, emblematic spaces of the monument.

Partly inscribed in the historical monuments in 1997 for its facades, roofs, peristyle, vestibule and hall of the Pas-Perdus, the palace still houses the court of grand instance and the court of assizes of the Dordogne. Work to improve reception, planned for 2010, was finally carried out between 2012 and December 2015, thus extending its adaptation to contemporary needs.

Located at 19 bis boulevard Michel Montaigne (former courtyard of the Princes), the palace borders the preserved area of Périgueux. Its architecture reflects the urbanistic ambitions of the 19th century, mixing judicial function and republican symbolism through a classical language inspired by antiquity.

Historical references include the work of architect Louis Catoire, whose original plans date back to 1827, as well as subsequent studies such as those of Martine Balout or Vincent Marabout, which highlight his role in the local judicial heritage and his architectural inspiration.

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