Hôtel
MonumentHidden Treasure
Hôtel, located in Sarlat-la-Canéda (Dordogne), 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
- Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.8902, 1.2160
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00082942
At the heart of the Périgord Noir, this 15th-century townhouse embodies the Flamboyant Gothic elegance of Sarlat, an exceptional town where the golden stone tells five centuries of bourgeois and mercantile history.
History
Sarlat-la-Canéda has one of the best-preserved historic centres in France, and its 15th-century town houses are its beating heart. This building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1944, is part of this exceptional urban fabric, where each façade tells the story of the prosperity of a merchant town at the height of its power, after the ravages of the Hundred Years' War. The distinguishing feature of this town house is that it belongs to a generation of Périgord civil architecture born of reconstruction: patrons enriched by trade, law or the royal administration wanted to assert their success in stone. The sober majesty of the façade, the finely moulded window surrounds and the logical layout of the interior bear witness to a transition between the medieval world and the early Renaissance aspirations sweeping in from Italy. The visit begins on the street, in the changing light that plays on the ochre Sarlat limestone - the Périgord limestone that turns golden in the setting sun and almost tawny in summer. The building is in dialogue with its illustrious neighbours: Saint-Sacerdos Cathedral, the Lantern of the Dead and the Gothic facades that make Sarlat an open-air museum unequalled in France. Sarlat's setting amplifies the architectural emotion: the medieval alleyways, preserved from modernisation thanks to the Malraux law, which made Sarlat its first pilot site in 1964, allow you to walk from one private mansion to another in a rare temporal continuity. Whether you're a fan of medieval architecture, a photographer in search of golden lights or just a stroller, you'll find plenty to marvel at here.
Architecture
The building is in the tradition of Gothic civil architecture in the Périgord Noir region, characterised by the almost exclusive use of local limestone with its golden hues, extracted from the surrounding quarries. This noble and generous limestone allows for fine carvings - mouldings, cornices, sculpted frames - which distinguish quality buildings from ordinary constructions. The facade has the characteristic features of late 15th-century Sarlat private mansions: mullioned windows with moulded frames, transom or pointed arches above the main bays, projecting eaves to protect the stone from rainwater. The roof, probably made of "lauzes" (flat limestone slabs typical of the Périgord region) or flat tiles depending on subsequent alterations, crowns the whole with an austere yet elegant silhouette. An internal spiral staircase probably served the different levels, in accordance with the canonical layout of medieval dwellings in the region. Inside, the original layout would have included a lower hall for utilitarian or commercial purposes, reception areas on the first floor and bedrooms on the upper levels. The barrel-vaulted cellars, typical of Sarlat, ensured the preservation of foodstuffs in a region where the food trade played an essential role. The whole complex reveals a builder who was keen to combine domestic comfort with social representation, in keeping with the architectural codes of his time.
Related Figures
Charles VII, roi de France, dont la reconquête du Périgord (1450) crée les conditions de la renaissance architecturale sarladaiseÉtienne de La Boétie (1530-1563), humaniste et auteur du Discours de la servitude volontaire, né à Sarlat dans un hôtel particulier du même quartierAndré Malraux (1901-1976), ministre de la Culture qui choisit Sarlat comme première ville pilote de la loi sur les secteurs sauvegardés en 1964Les évêques de Sarlat (XIVe-XVIIIe siècles), commanditaires indirects du développement architectural de la cité épiscopaleLes familles consulaires sarladaises du XVe siècle, oligarchie marchande et juridique qui finance la reconstruction de la ville après la guerre de Cent Ans
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Hôtel located?
Hôtel is located in Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
When was Hôtel built?
Hôtel dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Hôtel open to visitors?
Hôtel is currently closed to visitors.