Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu
MonumentHidden Treasure
Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu, located in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), 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
- Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 43.6768, 4.6256
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00081149
An elegant 17th-18th century Arles town house, Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu embodies the refinement of the Provencal bourgeoisie, with its well-ordered façade and inner courtyards bathed in southern light.
History
Nestling in the heart of the historic centre of Arles, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu is one of those discreet jewels that the Camargue town hides behind its pale limestone facades. Built between the 17th and 18th centuries at the height of Provençal civil architecture, this private mansion bears witness to the pomp and ambition of a great Arles family whose name is inextricably linked with the history of the town. What distinguishes the building at first glance is the combination that is so characteristic of private mansions in the south of France: an austere, orderly façade, almost reserved, contrasting with the warmth of the interior spaces organised around a courtyard or a monumental staircase. The carefully-crafted local ashlar lends the building a sober dignity that is not contradicted by the moulded cornices or sculpted window surrounds. To visit the Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu is to plunge into the intimacy of an aristocratic and mercantile Arles, that of the great families who made the city on the Rhone one of the strongholds of Provençal trade and culture. The building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1987, is protected to ensure that its volumes and decorations are preserved. The surrounding environment adds to the emotion of the visit: the medieval streets of the old town, the Roman arena just a few steps away, and the neighbouring private mansions that together form an urban fabric of a coherence that is rare in France. Arles, a city thousands of years old, offers the Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu a setting worthy of its history.
Architecture
The Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu is part of the great tradition of Provençal town houses from the 17th and 18th centuries, which combine the contributions of French classicism with the specific features of southern know-how. The street façade, built of local limestone, features a regular layout of superimposed bays punctuated by stone stringcourses and moulded surrounds. The cross-headed and small-timbered windows, typical of the period, give the building a measured elegance that is typical of provincial classicism. The interior layout follows the canonical layout of large southern middle-class residences: a vaulted entrance vestibule opening onto an inner courtyard, around which the various main buildings are arranged. The staircase, an element of prestige par excellence in the civil architecture of the period, would have been one of the bravura features of the building, with its wrought iron banister with foliage motifs and its straight or winding ashlar flights. The reception rooms on the first floor, the noble floor, were undoubtedly decorated with French ceilings or stuccowork, in keeping with the fashion of the time. The materials used reflect the local resources and construction practices of Provence in Arles: Crau or Alpilles limestone for the structural and decorative elements, Roman hollow tile roofs in ochre and brown tones, lime render on the masonry. These technical choices, dictated as much by the Mediterranean climate as by tradition, ensure that the building blends seamlessly into the historic urban fabric of Arles.
Related Figures
Famille Laurens de Beaujeu — famille bourgeoise et nobiliaire arlésienne, commanditaire et première occupante de l'hôtel particulierConsuls d'Arles (XVIIe-XVIIIe s.) — édiles municipaux dont les grandes familles locales, comme les Laurens de Beaujeu, constituaient le vivierArchitectes maçons arlésiens (XVIIe-XVIIIe s.) — artisans locaux formés à la tradition provençale, bâtisseurs de l'essentiel du tissu urbain arlésienInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (1987) — acteurs de la reconnaissance patrimoniale officielle de l'édifice
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu located?
Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu is located in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France.
When was Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu built?
Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu open to visitors?
Hôtel Laurens de Beaujeu is currently closed to visitors.