Hôtel des Créneaux, Renaissance administrative building in Orléans, France

The Hôtel des Créneaux is a 16th-century building on Rue Sainte-Catherine in central Orléans. Its pale stone facade has four dormer windows with triangular pediments above four larger rectangular windows, with a band of carved stone ornament running between them. A steep grey slate roof rises above, with a small square tower at its left ridge; a tall trimmed hedge partly hides the lower facade.

Built in the 16th century on Rue Sainte-Catherine in central Orléans, the hôtel des Créneaux successively housed the town hall, a courthouse, the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the natural history museum. It has been listed as a monument historique since 1840 and today holds part of the Orléans conservatory.

The building's name comes from the crenellations, the notched parapet of a fortified building, that its 16th-century architecture carried. Over the centuries the house passed from town hall to courthouse, then to the museums of fine arts and natural history, and today it holds part of the Orléans conservatory, so its civic role has changed hands repeatedly rather than ended.

The building sits in the old town on Rue Sainte-Catherine and is easily walkable from other central sites. Part of it now houses the music conservatory, so not all areas are always open to visitors.

The building has been listed as a monument historique since 1840, one of the earliest protections granted in France. Its name comes from the crenellated crown that once topped it, a mark of civic authority. Today it houses part of the Orléans conservatory.