Au Relais Saint Maurice

Old house of the 15th century, in the eve town of Chinon, Rue Haute Saint Maurice, house with an interior courtyard with view on the castle of Chinon. The house is composed of a large living room to relax, read or play the board games, from a courtyard to a quiet fountain to have breakfast. Since the Middle Ages, the nobles and royal officers have built large stone houses down below the fortress. The mansions of the 15th century are distinguished by their L-shaped plan around a courtyard opening on the street, their spiral staircase housed in a projecting turret at the corner of the buildings. In the 16th century, the medieval private mansions are remodeled to the taste of the Renaissance: the staircases are encompassed inside the buildings, while the corbelled towers appear on the facades . The window frames and dormer windows are decorated with pilasters and pediments. It is still in the high street, towards the west (rue Voltaire or Haute Saint-Maurice) that we find the most beautiful examples: Maîtrise des Eaux et Forêts, hotel Bodard de la Jacopière, hotel Poirier de Beauvais ... In the 17th -18th centuries, the mansions built are remarkable by the enlargement of the windows, the appearance of balconies in wrought iron, the great staircases of honor: hotel of the Governor, hotel Torterue of Langardière ...