Hôtel Des créneaux

The Hôtel des Créneaux, in Orléans

The Hôtel des Créneaux is the first town hall of Orléans, a fine façade of the sixteenth century mixing Gothic and Renaissance. The Orléans audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this historic building topped with a belfry, long seat of the municipal power of the town.

The first town hall and its belfry

This façade of the sixteenth century is awfully fine, with its alternation of Gothic and Renaissance style! As its name indicates, it is the first town hall of Orléans, the Hôtel des Créneaux. For centuries, it is here that the municipal power of the town sat, that the aldermen and the notables administered the town and that the great decisions of local life were taken. The building testifies to a pivotal period of architecture, where the late Gothic, with its ornate windows and its sculpted decors, gave way little by little to the new forms of the Italian Renaissance, which gives its façade this harmonious and characteristic mixture of the two styles. The mansion is topped with a belfry, this tower symbol of the communal liberties and of the municipal power, that sheltered the bell punctuating the life of the town. At the Revolution, the building changed use and became notably a tribunal. A precious witness of the heritage and the municipal history of Orléans, it has kept all its old character. The first town hall and a witness of the municipal power, the Hôtel des Créneaux is a fine stop of the discovery of the town.

What to see

You admire the fine façade of the sixteenth century that harmoniously mixes late Gothic and Renaissance, that of the first town hall of Orléans, the Hôtel des Créneaux, long seat of the municipal power; topped with a belfry, symbol of the communal liberties that sheltered the bell of the town, it became a tribunal at the Revolution and testifies to the rich heritage of the town. The Hôtel des Créneaux is a witness of the municipal power of Orléans. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Hôtel des Créneaux lies in the historic centre of Orléans, reachable on foot. You admire its façade and its belfry from the street; the interior access, according to its current use, follows its own conditions. You discover it during a walk in old Orléans.

What is the Hôtel des Créneaux in Orléans?

The first town hall of Orléans, with a fine façade of the sixteenth century mixing late Gothic and Renaissance; long seat of the municipal power, it is topped with a belfry, symbol of the communal liberties that sheltered the bell of the town, and became a tribunal at the Revolution, a precious witness of the heritage and the municipal history of the town.

Where is the Hôtel des Créneaux in Orléans?

In the historic centre of Orléans, in France.