Maison du 17s.
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison du 17s., 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
- 43.6781, 4.6272
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00081172
In the heart of ancient Arles, this 17th-century residence reveals the sober elegance of Provençal Baroque, with its ashlar façade, moulded frames and the golden patina of the centuries. A discreet gem of Arles heritage.
History
In the labyrinth of narrow streets winding between the Roman amphitheatre and the Alyscamps, a 17th-century house stands with the aristocratic restraint typical of the Provençal genius. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1927, it embodies the pivotal moment when Arles, rich in its river trade on the Rhône, invested its prosperity in refined domestic architecture, halfway between Romanesque sobriety and the lessons of Italy. What makes this residence so unique is precisely its refusal to be ostentatious. Where the private mansions of Montpellier and Aix-en-Provence flaunted their colossal pilastered facades, the seventeenth-century house in Arles is all about nuance: discreet rustication at the corners, stone bands punctuating the levels, and window surrounds with crossettes betraying the influence of the architectural treatises of the period. The blonde local stone, quarried in the Alpilles region, gives the building a honey-coloured hue that the Provencal sun turns to gold at certain times of the day. Visiting the exterior - as the interior is generally inaccessible to the public - is a real exercise in architectural interpretation. Observe the rhythm of the windows, and guess behind the facade the interior layout typical of a southern bourgeois home: a paved vestibule opening onto an inner courtyard, a staircase with a wrought-iron banister, reception rooms on the first floor with French ceilings. Imagination does the rest. The setting is itself an invitation to travel back in time. Arles, a city like no other, overlaps two millennia of history in just a few hundred square metres: Roman baths stand next to Romanesque bell towers, Renaissance facades rub shoulders with Grand Siècle trading houses. This 17th-century residence fits into this urban palimpsest with the grace of evidence.
Architecture
The house belongs to the category of 17th-century Provençal Baroque domestic architecture, characterised by a synthesis of French classical heritage and Italian influences filtered through southern sensibility. The façade, based on the Arles model, is probably laid out over three levels: a ground floor used as a shop or storeroom, a piano nobile on the first floor housing the reception flats, and a second, more modest level under the roof. The bays are punctuated by cross-patterned surrounds in blonde ashlar from the Alpilles region, the preferred material of local builders, which is solid, easy to work with and has a remarkable natural aesthetic appeal. The architectural details reveal the hand of skilled craftsmen: diamond-pointed bosses or split quoins at the corners of the façade, continuous bands marking the separation of the storeys, and a cornice with modillions crowning the whole. The window joinery, which may have been replaced over the centuries, originally followed the pattern of small panes and transoms typical of 17th-century Provence. The low-sloped roof, in keeping with southern practice, is covered in hollow Roman tiles in ochre and pink tones. The interior layout is probably in keeping with the canonical plan of the southern French bourgeois home: a corridor-vestibule giving access to the courtyard - the living heart of the Mediterranean house - a straight or winding staircase with a wrought-iron banister, and adjoining rooms on the first floor with carved stone fireplaces and exposed-beam or painted coffered ceilings.
Related Figures
Constructeur anonyme du XVIIe siècle, probablement un négociant ou un officier de justice arlésienMaître maçon provençal, vraisemblablement formé aux pratiques de l'atelier marseillais ou montpelliérainFamille de parlementaires ou de marchands arlésiens du XVIIe siècle, propriétaires initiaux présumésHenri Revoil (1822-1900), architecte des Monuments Historiques pour la Provence, actif dans la reconnaissance du patrimoine arlésienFrédéric Mistral (1830-1914), défenseur infatigable du patrimoine provençal et du Museon Arlaten voisin
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison du 17s. located?
Maison du 17s. is located in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France.
When was Maison du 17s. built?
Maison du 17s. dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison du 17s. open to visitors?
Maison du 17s. is currently closed to visitors.