For somebody out on a stroll, Chartres is a real treat. One should not fail to take note of the medieval heritage that can still be seen in the town. Its houses and hotels make up part of that heritage.
This house, built in the 13th century, belonged to different canons, then to the Cathedral’s chapter up until the Revolution. It is only in 1911, at the time of restoration work, that six sculpted gables that surmount the first-floor windows, which were concealed, without a doubt, behind plaster cladding since the 18th century, were rediscovered. The battle and game scenes that appear on the second gable are found in an album of Villard de Honnecourt’s, an architect from the time of Saint Louis; he came up with a notebook of designs of the best building sites of his time. What remains presents plant-like decorations: arum lilies, fig trees, vines, and watercress. During the 16th century, the house was leased to King Henry III, who often stayed in Chartres, and who took refuge there at the time of the Parisian revolt, the so-called “Day of the Barricades,” in 1588.
The Place de la Poissonnerie [Fish Mongers Square] nowadays offers a very beautiful group of buildings that includes the Maison du Saumon and the Maison de la Truie qui file. This neighborhood has been a proved itself as a good spot for the selling of fish since the beginning of the 15th century; the last stall disappeared sometime after 1950. Up until the 16th century, fish from the sea came by boats that went up the Seine and Eure. They then headed towards Rouen, loaded down with local products. Formerly, the Place de la Poissonnerie was totally surrounded by gabled houses. They were demolished around 1870, and then again in 1960. To the right, one can still find the Maison de la Truie qui file.
On high and to the right, the décor depicts a spinning sow, a scene inspired by one of Phèdre’s ancient fables. The Maison du Saumon was inhabited by Catherine Maubuisson, Dame of Borville, who headed an important import/export business. Beside the salmon, on the façade there is the Annunciation and Saint Michel striking down the dragon. The building’s façade and loft were classified as historical monuments in 1958. On August 1, 1944, incendiary bombs damaged these buildings. The sculpted animal motifs on the top floor were executed at the time of the Restoration, in the spirit of the 15th century.
At No. 16 there is a beautiful building that is home to the Maison de l'Archéologie. The oldest part of the building dates from the 15th century. It was part of the Maison de Trois Pigeons, a noble dwelling that was owned by the Givès family who supplied noteworthy people in the town, from the 14th- to 17th century, and whose coats of arms are stamped with the pinion of the small door (recent copy). The building, which had been modified several times up till the 18th century, during the first half of the 19th century, was home to the Eure-et-Loir Beauce Museum of the Archeological Society. The courtyard, in the back is bordered by high sustaining walls that have taken the place of an old enclosure. They are needed to support the Saint Aignan Church chevet. In 1782, this wall, which looked like it was going to fall into ruins, caused some memorable litigation between the Town, its residents, and the parish.
Next to the fountain is the Maison de la Voûte, which is a beautiful example of stone houses built during the Middle Ages. Its façade (from the 12th century), which has two pinions, is built with four arched windows and trefoil gables. It has a vast, 14-meter hall, which today is under the level of the ground. It is embellished by a fireplace and arches that are supported by imposing sculpted pillars.
Widening of the street, undertaken during the 19th century, was interrupted to preserve the beautiful house built in the 16th century by the apothecary, Pierre Huvé. It was expanded by his son Claude, who was a doctor and humanist.
Two houses in one:
Formerly, on the inside, the façade looked out over a courtyard with a stone staircase that lead to a first floor. Philibert Delorme was perhaps the one who designed the pretty three-storey façade. The Latin inscription one sees on it points out that this house was built for the embellishment of the town, as well as for posterity.
During the 13th century, 39 moneychangers kept their tables along this street; it was the true center of the town’s business activity. Built around 1300, the “Grand Perron des Trois Rois” faced them. It was one of the town’s most beautiful hotels. In 1450, it was owned by Pierre Beschebien, Bishop of Chartres. During 1472, the town bought it to turn it into their “Maison de ville.” The district council was headquartered there until 1792. The façade that looks out over the street is damaged, but the rear façade has remained virtually intact. On its third floor, a large room still preserves some traces of frescoes.
Place Jean Moulin, a large house with a brick façade that was recently restored, dates back to the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century. It served as a secondary residence for Jean de Champrond, a High Court magistrate who presided over the Paris Court during the time of Louis XIV. A wealthy bourgeois, he owned different seigniories in Beauce and spent part of the year in his hotel on Rue du Cheval Blanc (today, 26 Place Jean Moulin). Notorious because of his extreme greediness, people say he must have been the inspiration for Molière’s character, Harpagon. It has been reported that while bedridden and on the verge of death he said to his wife: “I can tell that my doctor is making my illness last as long as he can. That will end up in my ruination. Send him away, as quickly as you can, and let Nature heal me, free of charge.” They say that before turning over his soul to God, he found the strength to sit up on his bed so he could “put out the candle that seemed superfluous to him.” On the main door with surbased arch, the Champrond coat of arms appears; it is a representation of a griffon. Since 1991, this hotel has been the headquarters of the Chartres Bishopric.
Mairie de Chartres
Place des Halles
28000 Chartres
Standard tous services :
Tel. :+33 (0)2 37 23 40 00
Fax : +33 (0)2 37 23 41 99
Heures d'ouverture
Du lundi au vendredi : 9 h 00-17 h 00
Le samedi : 9 h 00-12 h 30
