Hôtel de Vogüé

What you will see

Walk through the rusticated gateway into the courtyard. The Italian-style portico and carved decoration bring Renaissance refinement to a measured classical plan, with the main building facing the entrance and two wings framing the courtyard. Look up at the roof, patterned with glazed Burgundy tiles in the local tradition. The apse of Notre-Dame is a few steps away. In summer the courtyard sometimes hosts concerts and exhibitions. The city, which has owned the house since 1961, singles out the portico on the inner side of the street wall, shaped like a triumphal arch carrying a terrace, as unique in France. Inside, the guard room keeps a painted French-style ceiling and the great fireplace of 1614, carved and inlaid with coloured marbles, and the next room has a fireplace showing the Rape of Proserpine.

History

Étienne Bouhier, a counsellor at the Parliament of Burgundy from 1607 to 1635 and a lover of the arts, built the house. The date 1614 on the great fireplace of the guard room marks the first wing to be built. The house is counted among the finest magistrates' mansions of 17th-century France. In 1766 it passed by marriage to the Vogüé family. The city now owns it, and it was listed as a historic monument in 1911.