Halles
MonumentHidden Treasure
Built in 1672 by Anne de Rohan, these three-aisled covered market halls in Touraine reveal two exceptional Baroque portals, adorned with curved pediments and pilasters carved with aristocratic coats of arms.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
In the heart of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, a stopover town on the royal road between Paris and Bordeaux, the 17th-century covered market is one of the most eloquent examples of Baroque civil architecture in Touraine. A far cry from ordinary covered markets, this building, founded by a grande dame of the French aristocracy, has an architectural presence that goes far beyond its commercial vocation. What makes these covered market halls truly unique is the exceptional care given to their two entrances. To the south and west, classically generous sculpted portals welcome visitors and merchants alike: curved pediments, slender pilasters, finely crafted brackets and tympanums featuring palm motifs framing the Rohan coat of arms - burnt out during the Revolution, but whose composition remains legible. These ornaments reveal the ambition of a patron keen to anchor her magnificence in the Tuffeau stone. The interior features three naves covered by a carefully crafted wooden roof structure, typical of the great covered market halls of classical France. Light filters through the arcades and timber-framed walls, creating an atmosphere that is both intimate and solemn, where it's easy to imagine the hustle and bustle of the weekly markets of yesteryear. Engraved inscriptions still recall the founding act, giving the building a rare memorial dimension. For today's visitor, the Halles de Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine are a first-rate architectural stop-off point on the tourist itinerary of southern Touraine. The monument is set in a town that has preserved a coherent heritage from the Grand Siècle, ideal for exploring on foot in connection with the troglodytic cellars and the famous PDO goat's cheese for which the area is famous.
Architecture
The Halles de Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine is a three-aisled building covered by a wooden framework, a recurring feature of large covered markets in 17th-century France. This tripartite structure allowed merchants and shoppers to move around freely, while providing effective protection from the elements. The load-bearing walls, probably made of tuffeau - the blonde stone characteristic of the Touraine region, easy to cut and sculpt - give the whole a warm, chromatic unity. The architectural uniqueness of the building lies in the exceptional treatment of its two entrance gates, to the south and west. Each is crowned by a curved pediment, a Baroque motif of great elegance, supported either by engaged pilasters with carefully sculpted capitals, or by consoles in high relief. These decorative elements are part of a classical French vocabulary influenced by the Roman Baroque in vogue under Louis XIV. The spandrels, framed by stylised palm motifs, were once home to the Rohan coat of arms, which is now hammered away but whose sculpted frame is still visible. Lapidary inscriptions, integrated into the composition of the portals or carved into the stone of the walls, recall the foundation act of 1672 and the munificence of Anne de Rohan. This attention to written memory, combined with the ornamental richness of the entrances, makes the Halles de Sainte-Maure a remarkable example of aristocratic civil architecture from the Grand Siècle in the provinces, where utility and prestige are combined with a clear mastery of the decorative codes of the period.
Related Figures
Anne de Rohan — commanditaire des halles, épouse de Louis VIII de Rohan, fit construire l'édifice en 1672Louis VIII de Rohan — époux d'Anne de Rohan, seigneur de Sainte-Maure au XVIIe siècleLouis XIV — règne pendant lequel les halles sont édifiées, contexte du Grand Siècle et de l'affirmation aristocratique en provinceLes artisans tailleurs de pierre tourangeaux — auteurs anonymes des sculptures des portails, héritiers d'une longue tradition de travail du tuffeau
