Hôtel d'Uzès, Protected private mansion in Tonnerre, France.
The Hôtel d'Uzès is a 16th-century private mansion in Tonnerre of which only the courtyard and facade remain from a much larger complex. The pale stone facade has two levels of tall mullioned windows with leaded glass, and two dark reddish-brown double doors with small panes near the top. One door sits in a carved stone portal beneath an inscribed panel; the other lies under a lintel carved with the letters "NISI FRVS TRA".
The Hôtel d'Uzès was built after 1556 for Jean Canelle (1503–1562), a wealthy bourgeois of Tonnerre and receiver of taxes, whose descendants held it until 1651. The date 1533 carved on the building was added during the 1888 restoration. It was bought by the Caisse d'épargne in 1879 and inscribed as a monument historique on 18 May 1926.
The house takes its name from Louise de Clermont, countess of Tonnerre, who married Antoine de Crussol, duke of Uzès, and stayed here repeatedly as a friend of the Canelle family. The Chevalier d'Éon was born in the building on 5 October 1728. In 2018 a Secrets d'Histoire crew filmed sequences here for an episode on d'Éon, broadcast on France 3 on 21 October 2019.
The mansion stands in Tonnerre, in the Yonne department; only the courtyard and facade survive of a much larger complex, so the street view is limited to that facade. It is a private property, so visitors should stay in the public space and not enter the courtyard. The building has been inscribed as a monument historique since 18 May 1926.
The 1533 date carved on the building was added during the 1888 restoration, not an original construction date; the mansion was likely built after 1556 for Jean Canelle. The two statues flanking the facade also date from that 1888 campaign, which drew controversy.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,559 contributors worldwide.