Fontaine Louis XVI et pavillon, derrière la Porte Gayole, dans la ville haute intra-muros
Monument
Fontaine Louis XVI et pavillon, derrière la Porte Gayole, dans la ville haute intra-muros, located in Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais), 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
- Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 50.7235, 1.6149
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108231
Discreet but regal, the Louis XVI fountain in Boulogne-sur-Mer reveals its neoclassical elegance in the shadow of the Porte Gayole, a rare example of 18th-century water-based town planning in the upper town.
History
Nestling in the upper town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, behind the Porte Gayole, the Louis XVI fountain is one of the few remaining 18th-century public waterworks in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. Its listing as a Historic Monument in 1945 testifies to the recognised heritage value of this ensemble, which comprises the fountain itself and its adjoining pavilion, forming a coherent and carefully-crafted architectural dialogue. What makes this monument unique is that it belongs to a very French tradition of monumental urban fountains, developed under the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI to provide provincial towns with facilities that were both functional and representative of royal power. In a port town like Boulogne-sur-Mer, whose upper town still retains its medieval layout surrounded by ramparts, such a fountain takes on a powerful symbolic dimension: it embodies the modernity of the Enlightenment introduced into the heart of a centuries-old urban fabric. Visitors entering the upper town through the Porte Gayole will discover the fountain in an unspoilt setting, away from the hustle and bustle of the port. The pavilion that accompanies the fountain gives the ensemble an architectural presence that is rare for a structure of this type, evoking the fountain-edicules found in royal cities of the same period. The local blonde stone, the sober neoclassical lines and the relative silence of this historic district invite you to pause and contemplate. For lovers of architecture and urban history, the Louis XVI fountain is part of a wider tour of Boulogne's upper town: ramparts, belfry, Notre-Dame basilica and castle-museum make up a coherent whole that makes this city a living conservatory of regional heritage. The fountain is one of the most discreet of these jewels, and perhaps for that reason one of the most endearing.
Architecture
The ensemble comprises two distinct but complementary elements: the fountain itself and an adjoining pavilion, forming a coherent architectural programme characteristic of the neoclassical taste of the late 18th century. The style adopted is in keeping with the Louis XVI movement, marked by a return to Greco-Roman antiquity, sober lines and a rejection of the exuberant ornamentation of the Rococo period. The fountain probably features an ashlar basin, framed by pilasters or engaged columns supporting a classical entablature, following a pattern frequently used in public fountains of the same period in northern France. The local limestone, quarried in the Boulonnais region, gives the building a light, airy tone well suited to the coastal climate. Sober mouldings, perhaps a mascaron or a symbolic motif in the shape of a keystone, could adorn the main basin, as was customary for ceremonial fountains of the period. The pavilion, a remarkable feature that distinguishes this ensemble from simple village fountains, probably takes the form of a small covered aedicula, with a flat tile or slate roof, reminiscent of the garden pavilions or guardhouses found in the noble utilitarian architecture of the late Ancien Régime. The ensemble, designed to blend harmoniously into the dense urban fabric of the upper town, illustrates the care taken by architects of the period to treat even functional facilities as art objects in their own right.
Related Figures
Louis XVI — roi de France sous le règne duquel la fontaine fut construite et dont elle porte le nomL'intendant de la généralité d'Amiens — figure administrative qui supervisait les programmes d'équipement urbain dans la région à la fin du XVIIIe siècleLes architectes provinciaux de l'école néoclassique du Nord — concepteurs anonymes de la fontaine, probablement formés à Paris sous l'influence de Ledoux ou SoufflotNapoléon Bonaparte — dont les séjours à Boulogne-sur-Mer (camp de Boulogne, 1803-1805) contribuèrent à entretenir et valoriser le patrimoine de la ville haute
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Fontaine Louis XVI et pavillon, derrière la Porte Gayole, dans la ville haute intra-muros located?
Fontaine Louis XVI et pavillon, derrière la Porte Gayole, dans la ville haute intra-muros is located in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Fontaine Louis XVI et pavillon, derrière la Porte Gayole, dans la ville haute intra-muros built?
Fontaine Louis XVI et pavillon, derrière la Porte Gayole, dans la ville haute intra-muros dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Fontaine Louis XVI et pavillon, derrière la Porte Gayole, dans la ville haute intra-muros open to visitors?
Fontaine Louis XVI et pavillon, derrière la Porte Gayole, dans la ville haute intra-muros is currently closed to visitors.