Maison du 16e siècle
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison du 16e siècle, located in Candes-Saint-Martin (Indre-et-Loire), 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
- Candes-Saint-Martin, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.2114, 0.0741
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00097613
A former 16th-century canonical presbytery in Candes-Saint-Martin, with its polygonal staircase tower and majestic triangular roof dormer, a discreet reminder of collegiate life in the Loire.
© Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia
History
In the heart of the village of Candes-Saint-Martin, where the Vienne joins the Loire in a landscape that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, stands a stone house that for many years housed the servants of the collegiate church of Saint-Martin. Although apparently discreet, it nonetheless harbours an architectural elegance typical of the Touraine Renaissance: a sober but well-groomed facade, bays with moulded frames, and a stone dormer with a triangular cross and gable that crowns the whole with a quiet nobility. What makes this building unique is the superposition of two types of building in a single structure: a domestic and priestly residence, designed to house the canons of the chapter, and Renaissance civil architecture bearing witness to the care given to quality clerical residences. The polygonal staircase tower, although discouraged over the centuries, is reminiscent of the bourgeois and canonic residences found throughout the Loire Valley in the 16th century. The house is best viewed from the street, looking up at its facade punctuated by finely preserved moulded windows. Lovers of carved stone and Renaissance details will find much to contemplate here, in a village that, with its collegiate church and exceptional confluence site, already boasts a rare density of heritage. Candes-Saint-Martin is one of the most beautiful villages in France, and this house is one of its little-known highlights. Perched between the Loire and Vienne rivers, it enjoys an exceptional natural and landscaped setting, ideal for curious walkers who linger beyond the collegiate church. A monument on a human scale, intimate and eloquent about the intellectual and spiritual life of the collegiate clergy during the Renaissance.
Architecture
The 16th-century house in Candes-Saint-Martin features sober, functional civil architecture in the Touraine Renaissance style, without ostentation but with a quality of execution that reveals an ecclesiastical patron concerned with decorum. The building has three levels: a ground floor, a first floor and an attic, a common feature of clerical residences in the Loire at the time. The main façade is the most remarkable feature of the building. It is pierced with bays, some of whose moulded tufa stone surrounds are still preserved, testifying to the care taken in designing the openings - pilasters, grooves and mouldings characteristic of the regional Renaissance vocabulary. At the top of the facade, the most spectacular feature is a large stone dormer with a cross and triangular gable: this dormer, carved from Touraine limestone, combines the ribbed cross with the triangular shape of the classical pediment, a synthesis typical of the early 16th century in France, where the Flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance styles blended harmoniously. The polygonal staircase tower, projecting from the main facade, is a characteristic feature of Renaissance residences in the Loire Valley: it provides access to the upper floors from the outside and is an architectural element in its own right. Its polygonal shape - probably hexagonal or octagonal - and its original crown, which has now disappeared, made it one of the most elegant features of the house. White Touraine tuffeau is the material of choice for this building, as it is both easy to cut and luminous, giving the façade the light colour so characteristic of Renaissance architecture in the Loire Valley.
Related Figures
Saint Martin de Tours (316-397) — évêque dont la mort à Candes fonda le rayonnement spirituel du bourg et, indirectement, l'existence du chapitre canonialLes chanoines du chapitre de Candes — commanditaires collectifs de la maison, responsables de la désignation des quatre curés qui l'habitaientLes quatre curés du chapitre — desservants de la paroisse, résidents successifs de ce presbytère du XVIe au XVIIIe siècleArchitectes et maçons tourangeaux anonymes du XVIe siècle — artisans formés dans l'orbite des grands chantiers royaux de la Loire
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison du 16e siècle located?
Maison du 16e siècle is located in Candes-Saint-Martin, Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Maison du 16e siècle built?
Maison du 16e siècle dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison du 16e siècle open to visitors?
Maison du 16e siècle is currently closed to visitors.