Ancien hôpital, actuellement maison Daura
MonumentHidden Treasure
Ancien hôpital, actuellement maison Daura, located in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie (Département 46), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, Département 46, Occitanie
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.4645, 1.6702
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00095236
The medieval jewel of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, this former 13th-century hospital has six bays with Gothic colonnettes and an elegant timber-framed corbel, bearing witness to centuries of village solidarity.
History
Perched in one of the most beautiful villages in France, overlooking the Lot valley from its limestone cliffs, the former hospital of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie - now known as the Maison Daura - is one of the best-preserved medieval civil buildings in Quercy. Its composite silhouette, a blend of blonde stone and timber-framed walls, blends with natural grace into the tight urban fabric of the village, without ever becoming anonymous. What makes this building truly unique is the superimposition of two perfectly legible architectural periods: the sober late Romanesque language of its 13th-century bays rubs shoulders with 15th-century Gothic refinements, forming a stone dialogue that is rare in a hospital environment. The series of six colonnaded windows on the second floor is remarkably coherent and elegant, comparable to the finest hôtels-Dieu in the region. The attentive visitor will notice a three-lobed bay on the first floor, a delicate limestone lacework that betrays an unexpected aesthetic concern for a building with a charitable vocation. Inside, the large, generously proportioned refectory still evokes the communal meals eaten by the poor and sick that the village welcomed within its walls. The timber-framed corbelling, with its sculpted beam ends, adds a touch of the picturesque and is a reminder that the master builders of the Quercy region knew how to combine different skills: stone-cutting and carpentry have reached a level of meticulous execution, far from the simple functionality you would expect from a hospital building. Now a private home bearing the name of Daura, the building can be admired from the medieval alleyway that runs alongside it, offering photographers and walkers alike a facade of rare richness. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1973, it alone embodies the historical depth and architectural quality that have earned Saint-Cirq-Lapopie the title of most beautiful village in France.
Architecture
The former hospital in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie is a large, two-storey building built of pale Quercy limestone, a material that is ubiquitous in vernacular construction in the Lot region. Its facade reveals two distinct constructional logics, which complement each other perfectly: an entirely masonry section, inherited from the 13th century, and a timber-framed section whose upper storey is corbelled onto the street, characteristic of half-timbered houses from the late Middle Ages in the south-west. The most spectacular feature of the building is the series of six colonnaded openings on the second floor of the stone section. These openings, with their regular rhythm and slender proportions, belong to the late Romanesque or proto-Gothic repertoire of the 13th century: the finely turned colonnettes support semi-circular or slightly pointed arches, creating a light gallery effect reminiscent of chapter houses or monastic refectories. At the corner of the first floor, a delicately carved three-lobed bay adds a touch of flamboyant Gothic that is characteristic of the 15th century. The ends of the beams in the timber-framed section are carved with plant or geometric motifs, a sign of meticulous craftsmanship. Inside, the first floor is occupied by a vast room known as the refectory, whose generous dimensions are a reminder of the building's original collective function. This space, which is probably covered by a wooden roof frame, retains echoes of centuries of medieval hospitality. The building as a whole is a perfect example of Quercy civil architecture, halfway between military robustness and domestic grace.
Related Figures
Les consuls de Saint-Cirq-Lapopie — administrateurs laïcs qui gérèrent l'hôpital pendant plusieurs sièclesAndré Breton — poète surréaliste qui fit de Saint-Cirq-Lapopie son refuge à partir de 1950 et contribua à la notoriété du villageLa famille Daura — propriétaires modernes ayant donné leur nom à l'édificePierre Daura — peintre catalan et américain établi à Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, probable lien avec la dénomination actuelle de la maison
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Ancien hôpital, actuellement maison Daura located?
Ancien hôpital, actuellement maison Daura is located in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, Département 46 department, Occitanie region, France.
When was Ancien hôpital, actuellement maison Daura built?
Ancien hôpital, actuellement maison Daura dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Ancien hôpital, actuellement maison Daura open to visitors?
Ancien hôpital, actuellement maison Daura is currently closed to visitors.
