1128

History

The Guilhem family, Lords of Montpellier

The hill that today hosts the Richer de Belleval hotel was chosen in the years 1128-1129 by Guilhem VI, lord of Montpellier, for its dominant location and its breathtaking view over the region. He had a residential palace and a chapel built on the site of the present Place de la Canourgue, where he deposited a fragment of the Holy Cross – which gave its name to the buildings – brought back from his trip to the Holy Land. For many years, this place was the nerve center of a rich and growing city.

History

From the Chapel to the Cathedral

In 1151, the Guilhem family moved into a new palace, on the site of the present Palace of Justice, and Guilhem VII ceded the former seigneurial residence to the prior of Saint-Firmin. The place then hosted the chapter of the Canons (canorga, in Occitan) of the cathedral of Maguelone, who gave their name to the square: “La Canourgue”. The building was then destroyed several times during the Wars of Religion. Starting in 1626, the neighborhood was largely demolished and remodeled, and the project to build a new cathedral was launched on this site. The present square has preserved its foundations, still visible below. But the project was soon abandoned in favor of the restoration of the Saint-Pierre Cathedral.

1568
1676

The hotel of Boulhaco, then of Belleval

The place was then redeveloped in 1665 to become one of the largest squares in the city. In 1676, the remaining houses were enlarged, connected and refurbished by Charles de Boulhaco, adviser to the Court of Auditors, Aids and Finance of Montpellier, who built his mansion there by erecting the facade that we know today in the alignment of the Place de la Canourgue. Its successive owners carried out many developments over the years, until it reached its current configuration: the labyrinthine building occupies the entire block, and offers a moving testimony of the various periods and architectural styles from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

City Hall

The building was bought in 1816 by the municipality from the de Belleval family, descendants of Pierre Richer de Belleval, a famous botanist who founded the Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier and physician to Henri IV and Louis XIII. It became the City Hall of Montpellier, a function that it ended up fulfilling until 1975. From 1976 to 2010, it housed an annex of the Palace of Justice.

1816

2021

The Renaissance of Richer de Belleval

Located in the heart of the old city, on one of the oldest and most romantic squares of Montpellier, this building full of history retains in its stone the imprint of the different eras it has lived through. Acquired in 2017 by a group of private individuals and restored by the Philippe Prost Architecture Studio, thanks to the action of the GGL Group, the Hôtel Richer de Belleval is now reborn and will soon reveal its new face to the public. With its historic decor returned to its original state, magnified by exceptional contemporary artworks, the Hôtel Richer de Belleval will offer visitors a journey through time, a unique artistic emotion that will mark the history of the city for a long time to come.

Historical Decors

The gypsery room

In the "gypsery room" there is a decoration of great aesthetic and semantic richness, probably dating back to the construction of the building (1676-1678). Emblematic of the place,...

Find out more

X
X

Les navigateurs Internet Explorer sont obsolètes pour la visualisation de ce site. Pour profitez d'une navigation pleinement optimale et en toute sécurité, veuillez télécharger un navigateur autre qu'Internet Explorer (ex: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, etc...).

Ci-dessous, des suggestions de navigateurs compatibles et à jour :

Télécharger Google Chrome Télécharger Mozilla Firefox Télécharger Microsoft Edge