The Hôtel Boyer de Fonscolombe is a listed

hôtel particulier An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side an ...

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

. It houses the ''Institut de Management Public et Gouvernance Territoriale'' of

Aix-Marseille University Aix-Marseille University (AMU; french: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as ''Université d'Aix-Marseille'') is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II o ...

Location

It is located 21, Rue

Gaston de Saporta Gaston de Saporta (28 July 1823 – 26 January 1895) was a French aristocrat, palaeobotanist and non-fiction writer. Biography Early life (Louis Charles Joseph) Gaston de Saporta born in the Château de Montvert in Saint-Zacharie, Var, on July ...

(formerly known as the rue de la Grande Horloge) in Aix-en-Provence.

History

It was built as two separate houses for the Roman Catholic archbishopry, as it is next door to the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur. In the sixteenth century, it was purchased by two families: a baker, and the de Rascas family. In 1635 and in 1642, Charles de Grimaldi-Régusse (1612-1687) purchased the two townhouses and merged them into one. (He also lived in the Hôtel de Grimaldi-Régusse, another hôtel particulier located at 26, rue de l'Opéra in Aix.) In the eighteenth century, his descendants sold the hotel to the Forbin La Barben family. In 1743 (shortly before his death), Honoré Boyer de Fonscolombe (1683-1743) inherited it from his sister.René Borricand, ''Les Hôtels particuliers d'Aix-en-Provence'', 39 rue Espariat, 1971, p. 5

/ref> His son Léon-Baptiste-Laurent de Fonscolombe inherited it and restored it. For example, in 1757 he restored the facade. In 1821, the parents of

(1823-1895) inherited it, and he grew up there, as did his son, writer Antoine de Saporta (1855-1914). Later, the de Saporta family sold it to the de Vitrolles family, who rented it. It was purchased by the French state in 1950, and it was assigned to the Ministry of National Education in 1955. It has been used by the

since 1965. Inside it has paintings ceilings and gypseries. It also displays paintings by Nicolas Pinson (1636-1681) and Esprit Antoine Gibelin (1739-1813).

Heritage significance

It has been listed as a

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

since 1989.

References

Hôtels particuliers in Aix-en-Provence Monuments historiques of Aix-en-Provence Aix-Marseille University {{France-struct-stub