Magasin de commerce (pharmacie)
Monument
Magasin de commerce (pharmacie), located in Annecy (Département 74), 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
- Annecy, Département 74, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00118352
The commercial jewel of Annecy's Belle Époque, this former pharmacy with its late 19th-century décor combines carved woodwork and ornamental glassware in an unspoilt setting in the heart of the old town.
History
Standing at the bend in a street in Annecy's historic centre, this former pharmacy is an elegant embodiment of the refinement of late 19th-century middle-class shops. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1984, it is a rare and precious testimony to the commercial culture of Savoie at a time when the region had only just joined France two decades earlier. The carefully preserved interior features all the decorative vocabulary typical of the prestigious pharmaceutical dispensaries of the period: carved dark wood furniture, carefully labelled drawers for spices and drugs, a moulded oak counter, and glass display cabinets set in finely crafted woodwork. What really sets this establishment apart from the ordinary shops of the period is the remarkable consistency of its original décor, which has remained almost intact. Where so many shops have suffered the ravages of successive renovations, this one has stood the test of time without losing its soul. The built-in furniture, painted cornice ceilings and precious wooden fittings bear witness to a considerable investment on the part of the client, revealing the high social status of pharmacists in Annécian society during the Belle Époque. A visit to the building - or simply observing its façade from the street - immerses visitors in the hushed, scientific atmosphere of the pharmacies of yesteryear, where the art of healing and the simple trade intersected. It's easy to imagine the coloured glass bottles on the shelves, the precision scales on the counter, and the customers in their hats and frock coats coming in search of their masterly preparations. Located in the exceptional setting of Annecy, whose medieval old town and crystal-clear canals make it one of the most attractive towns in the French Alps, this shop is set in an urban fabric of rare heritage quality. It blends harmoniously with the arcades and colourful facades lining the Thiou, a reminder that 19th-century bourgeois prosperity blended harmoniously with the decor inherited from previous centuries.
Architecture
The architecture of this former pharmacy in Annecy is in keeping with the eclectic trend that characterised bourgeois storefronts in the last quarter of the 19th century. The façade probably features a careful composition combining a large central bay window - allowing products to be displayed in natural light - and moulded ashlar or staff mouldings, in keeping with the common practice of Savoyard craftsmen of the period, who were influenced by Haussmann-style architecture in Lyon and Geneva. The interior, which justifies most of the monumental protection, is the real treasure of the place. The built-in carved wooden furniture - probably made of walnut or oak, popular species in the Alpine region - spans the entire height of the walls in the form of pilastered shelves, drawers with ornate fronts and a counter with a marble shelf. This type of layout, typical of the luxury pharmacies of the Third Republic, was generally complemented by display cabinets with bevelled glass and painted woodwork with gilded fillets, creating an atmosphere halfway between a scientific cabinet of curiosities and a bourgeois salon. The building's construction materials reflect local resources: the Annecy region has an abundance of lake limestone and Savoyard molasse, soft, easy-to-cut stones that were frequently used in nineteenth-century urban construction. The ornamental details of the façade - brackets, capitals, friezes - bear witness to the skills of Savoyard stonemasons, heirs to a long tradition of craftsmanship linked to the region's major religious and civil buildings.
Related Figures
Pharmacien fondateur (identité non établie) — commanditaire du décor intérieur exceptionnel, figure de la bourgeoisie annécienne de la Belle ÉpoqueVictor-Emmanuel II — roi de Piémont-Sardaigne dont le traité de Turin (1860) rattache la Savoie à la France, créant le contexte économique favorable à l'essor des commerces bourgeois annéciensNapoléon III — empereur français signataire de l'annexion de la Savoie, déclencheur indirect de la modernisation urbaine d'AnnecyJack Lang — ministre de la Culture sous François Mitterrand, dont les politiques de valorisation du petit patrimoine commercial aboutissent à l'inscription de la pharmacie aux MH en 1984Artisans ébénistes savoyards (anonymes) — auteurs présumés du mobilier intégré, héritiers des traditions menuisières alpines
Map
Coordinates not available for this monument.
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Magasin de commerce (pharmacie) located?
Magasin de commerce (pharmacie) is located in Annecy, Département 74 department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, France.
When was Magasin de commerce (pharmacie) built?
Magasin de commerce (pharmacie) dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Magasin de commerce (pharmacie) open to visitors?
Magasin de commerce (pharmacie) is currently closed to visitors.