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The Hotel des Archevêques de Sens is one of the rare civil medieval constructions remaining in Paris. Classified as a Monument Historique in 1862, it houses since 1961 the Fortney Art Library, which focuses on crafts and graphic arts.
It was built between 1475 and 1519 by Tristan de Salazar, archbishop of Sens. It is located 1st Rue du Figuier in Le Marais (4th arrondissement). Legend has it that the street "of the fig tree" was named this way after an actuel fig tree which was cut down by order of Margaret of Valois - ex-wife to Henri IV (King of France), who resided there from 1605 to 1606, because it was supposedly interfering with the comings and goings of her carriage.
From 1622 - when Paris became an archdiocese - the archbishops of Sens left Paris and their Hotel was rented to various people, from wealthy bourgeois to the Mails to noble knights, until 1790 when it became a national asset.
Sold by the State in 1797, it later housed diverse companies such as canneries, opticians, laundries, jam or glass factories, up until it went on fire in 1911. It was then bought by the City of Paris and restored in 1930 when whole city blocks where demolished due to insalubrity. Only in 1961 was it occupied again when the Forney Library of Art was moved there from the Faubourg Saint Antoine.
.jpg "Contemporary photograph of the monument")
The monument will celebrate its 5th centennial this year (2019). Witness to five hundred years of History, it has seen the city evolve through monarchies and republics, through social and industrial revolutions and remains an invaluable historical and architectural asset.
Written by Adélie, le 2019-03-23 15:16:55