Immeuble
MonumentHidden Treasure
Immeuble, located in Angers (Maine-et-Loire), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.4723, -0.5490
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108898
An elegant 19th-century building in Angers, listed as a historic monument in 1977, bearing witness to Angers’ remarkable urban expansion during the Second Empire and the Belle Époque.
History
In the heart of Angers, the historic capital of Anjou, stands a 19th-century bourgeois building whose ordered silhouette epitomises the architectural ambitions of a town in the throes of an urban renaissance. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1977, this building belongs to the generation of civil buildings that profoundly reconfigured the urban fabric of Angers in the post-revolutionary decades, imposing a new formal language inherited from academic classicism and enriched by the influences of the Second Empire. What sets this building apart from the ordinary production of its time is the quality of its architectural expression: the skilful balance between solid and void elements, the care taken with the modenature of the facades - projecting cornices, carefully crafted window surrounds, finely profiled window sills - reveals the hand of a builder attentive to the aesthetic canons in vogue in major French cities. Slate, the king material of Anjou, probably covers the roofs in keeping with local architectural tradition. A visit to the building, or simply contemplating it from the street, invites you to take a close look at the façades, where each horizontal register tells the story of a codified social hierarchy: the commercial or representative ground floor, the upper storeys with higher windows, and the discreet attic space. This vertical stratification is as much a sociological document as an aesthetic object. The urban environment contributes fully to the experience: Angers, a city of art and history, offers an exceptional architectural fabric where the castle of the Dukes of Anjou, Saint-Maurice cathedral and remarkably well-preserved middle-class neighbourhoods stand side by side. This building is part of this age-old dialogue between monumental heritage and everyday life. For lovers of urban architecture, civil heritage and 19th-century social history, this building is a must-see when exploring Angers, a city whose rich heritage extends far beyond its most famous monuments.
Architecture
The architecture of this 19th-century building in Anjou is in the tradition of the bourgeois eclectic style that dominated French civil engineering under the Second Empire and the Third Republic. The façade, probably laid out in a regular rhythm of bays, uses a classical vocabulary inherited from academicism: the louvres punctuating the openings, the entablature with its moulded cornice crowning the elevation, and the horizontal bands marking the separation of levels. Tuffeau limestone, a blonde stone quarried in the Loire Valley, was probably used for the structural work, giving the building the golden hue characteristic of Anjou architecture. Rectangular windows with projecting frames, wrought-iron railings with geometric or plant motifs, and pedimented dormers cutting through the blue slate roof complete a composition in which every detail responds to a precise aesthetic code. Trélazé slate, the quarries of which have made Angers world-famous, is used for the Mansard or straight-roofed roof, depending on the building's specific massing. The interior layout follows the typical Haussmann-style tenement building adapted to local formats, with a central staircase lit by a glass roof and flats arranged in a row with rooms facing the street and rooms facing the courtyard. The quality of the mouldings and the attention paid to the sculpted details - keystones embellished with coats of arms or cartouches, pilaster capitals embellished with stylised acanthus leaves - set this building apart from standard production and fully justify its heritage protection. The ensemble is a coherent testimony to the art of building in Anjou at the height of its bourgeois expression.
Related Figures
Les maîtres d'ouvrage bourgeois angevins du Second Empire, commanditaires d'immeubles de rapport représentatifsLes architectes angevins formés aux Beaux-Arts actifs entre 1850 et 1880, artisans de la transformation urbaine de la villeLes tailleurs de tuffeau et ardoisiers de Trélazé, artisans qui ont façonné l'identité architecturale du Val de LoireLes inspecteurs des Monuments Historiques qui ont porté l'inscription en 1977, défenseurs du petit patrimoine civilLes Architectes des Bâtiments de France du département de Maine-et-Loire, garants de la préservation depuis 1977
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Immeuble located?
Immeuble is located in Angers, Maine-et-Loire department, Pays de la Loire region, France.
When was Immeuble built?
Immeuble dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Immeuble open to visitors?
Immeuble is currently closed to visitors.