Montescot Hotel - Chartres en lumières

Explore the main pages of the history of the Montescot Hotel through the eyes of a child.

From the sumptuous decorations of the old mansion to the terrible bombings of the Second World War, this building contains a whole part of the modern and contemporary history of the city. Located between the courtyard and the garden, the building was for a long time the home of an orphanage that was later transformed into a school. Some of the walls still resound with the voices and songs of the children...

Based on this period, the show "Pierre, feuille, ciseaux..." proposes to explore some pages of the history of the Montescot Hotel through a child's eyes. In the manner of the famous game of hands, between surprise and magic, emotion and monumental perception, our own vision of the site will change throughout the sequences.

Artistic design : M2.Creative

A little history

The Montescot Hotel, the historical headquarters of the Chartres municipal administration, has had many successive lives since its construction in the early 17th century until its integration into the new and vast administrative center designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. The Montescot Hotel is a 17th century building whose facades and roofs have been classified as historical monuments.

Its history begins in 1546 when Jean de Montescot, administrator of the duchy of Chartres, had it built. The hotel was devastated during the Wars of Religion before being rebuilt in 1614 by his son Claude. At the death of the latter, in 1625, the hotel was sold to the Ursulines of Saumur who educated poor young girls there until 1759. In 1761, the Daughters of Providence occupied the hotel, taking in orphan girls and transforming it into a school.

In 1824, it was acquired by the city, which restored and expanded it to house a museum and a library.

On the night of May 26, 1944, the Montescot Hotel was bombed by mistake by the Allies. The bombs and fire almost completely destroyed the Justice of the Peace wing and the library wing, along with the treasures of manuscripts, engravings and books that it contained. The new Chartres City Hall, designed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, now stands on their site.