2
The Maison d'Arlandes, also known as the Maison des Seigneurs, features a 16th-century Renaissance facade with numerous cross and transom windows and a corner tower concealing a spiral staircase.
Description
From the first half of the 14th century, new dwellings were built to the north of the enclosure enclosing the old town.
At the beginning of the 16th century, three of them, adjoining and bordering the access road to the north gate, were owned by Jean I d'Arlandes. In 1539, he had a number of modifications carried out to create a single building with a Renaissance façade. Ashlar was used to frame the openings and reinforce the corners. As was often the case in the Middle Ages, the facades of the three buildings are not perfectly aligned.
The first and second storeys correspond to the openings of the two transom windows located vertically above the studded portal and the circular medallion. The window above the medallion is the only one to feature two pilasters with Renaissance-style bases and capitals.
On the second floor, the remains of a geminate bay with two slightly pointed arches remain in the façade. This bay has been partially rebuilt to allow the opening of a beautiful cross window, perfectly centered on the building's façade.
The corner tower rises to the ridge of the building and has only three west-facing openings: a small rectangular opening with chamfered frame on the ground and second floors, and a chamfered window at the top of the building with four sealed vertical metal protection bars. It is topped by a drip moulding that follows the contours of the building.
In many regions, noble families who came to live in a town or village had a tower built on the main street side of the building they occupied, called a "noble tower", to display their rank. Most of these towers, like that of the Maison des Seigneurs, also served a very useful purpose: to house the spiral staircase that served all floors.
On the second floor of the north building, after passing through the access door to the central building, you reach a corridor.
On the left is a room with a vaulted ceiling, lit by a half-crossed window overlooking the rue du Portail and the street side, corresponding to the window with two pilasters above the medallion and studded portal.
On the right, you enter a large room with a 3.3-metre-high French ceiling and an imposing Renaissance fireplace. On either side of the hood, the fireplace's side decorations extend into the present-day corridor, which did not exist in the 16th century. The floor, which rests partly on rock, is simply covered with earth.
In the south room on the 1st floor is a Renaissance-style fireplace, on whose lintel are carved the Arlandes coat of arms, "azure a golden inverted crescent in chief and a silver star in base", adjoined by the Grammont coat of arms "or a lion azure, armed and langued gules".
Part of the building served as a private school until 1999.
Today, this part is owned by the commune.
Spoken languages
- French
Themes
- Historic patrimony
- House