Rue des Forges and Hôtel Chambellan

The full story

In the 15th century, members of the ducal entourage settled in Rue des Forges, one of Dijon’s oldest thoroughfares, close to the dukes’ residence. According to the tourist office, the Hôtel Chambellan reflects the wealth of a family of cloth merchants. Its owner, Henri Chambellan, became mayor: since the charter of commune granted in 1187 by Duke Hugh III, the people of Dijon had elected a mayor and aldermen, responsible in particular for justice, fortifications and defence.

Everything happens in the courtyard, reached through a long rib-vaulted passage. The façade of the main building there is an exceptional example of Flamboyant Gothic. The two wings are linked by a two-storey wooden gallery with openwork bays and pendant keystones, ornaments that hang down from the top of the arches. Their staircases are built “hors œuvre”, that is, outside the main buildings: an architecture of juxtaposed parts still common in the 16th century.

Several details borrow from the castle: the dormer, a window rising from the top of the wall and cutting through the roof cornice, bears the owner’s coat of arms, and a high room crowns the stair turret. The stone spiral staircase, with its openwork and open to the courtyard, also displays the owner’s rank. At the very top, the carved gardener carries a basket from which the ribs of the vault spring.

Listed as a historic monument on 13 June 1913, the mansion saw its chapel listed in turn on 14 April 1917. It is also known as the “hôtel des ambassadeurs d’Angleterre” (English ambassadors’ mansion), though the origin of the name is unknown. Described as private by the tourist office, it sometimes opens to the public, for example during the European Heritage Days; the rest of the time, visitors are asked to respect the residents’ privacy.

The street has other survivors: at 52-54, the Hôtel Morel-Sauvegrain, from the mid-15th century, built for the family of Simone Sauvegrain, wet nurse to Charles the Bold and governess to his daughter Mary of Burgundy; at 38, the Maillard-Milsand house, whose courtyard portico with atlantes, statues of men serving as columns, made around 1565, is attributed with certainty to Hugues Sambin; and, at the corner of Rue du Rabot, the timber-framed Maison Pitard, once occupied by a pewterer.