Called to Langres in 1621, the Jesuits established their college on this site 30 years later. Situated at the heart of the town, this establishment could receive up to 200 students, notably from Langres and its surroundings. In 1746 the buildings were destroyed by fire, and a new college was built on the site soon after. The new building was completed in 1770, but the Jesuits were not to see their new college as they were expelled from the kingdom in 1762.
In the form of a \"U\", this huge building, conceived for study and prayer, has its southern facade built on the former ramparts of the 13th century. It is separated from Place Diderot by a surrounding wall, whose gateway is surmounted by an allegory of instruction, by the local sculptor Antoine Besançon. The wings of the building frame this wall with, to the right, the facade of the chapel. Conceived as an enormous reredos, the profuse decoration of its pediment with clouds, sunbeams and cherubs’ heads is surprising. The fire pots crown and complete this baroque decor.
12 - Caisse d’Epargne 1904
In 1903 the town acquired a former canonical house, situated at the feet of the Cathedral. In order to create a home for the Caisse d’Epargne, a competition to find an architect was launched. Part of the project was to put in order one side of the Place Jeanne Mance, to free up the south side of the Cathedral and allow direct access to the cloister. The competition winner, Dijon architect Charles Danne, made the most of the new building’s situation at the corner of the square to accentuate its imposing character. The abundant decor is a compilation of former styles (Renaissance, Baroque and Classical). 13 - St Mammès Cathedral
Listed Building Second half 12th century
Begun in 1150 and completed at the end of the century, the St Mammès Cathedral was the centre of a vast diocese situated between the Champagne and Burgundy regions.
It was to be the last major building in the lineage of the Romanesque abbey of Cluny, which was built at the end of the 11th century. Situated at the crossroad of different artistic influences, the Cathedral combines with great harmony a Romanesque style of decoration and concept of volume with early gothic innovations. The construction of the vault on intersecting ribs, a first in the region, allowed the nave to have a greater width and superior lighting than in other Clunian buildings.
Rebuilt in 1768, the imposing neo-classic facade is made up of two towers framing a forward central body superimposed by a pediment. Two monumental statues representing the Synagogue (on the left) and the Church (to the right) extend the pediment. The three levels are articulated by either columns or pilasters of the respective orders, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. During the revolution certain features of the decor had their initial meaning changed. Thus, above the north door (to the left), the mitre and bishop’s cross have been transformed respectively into a Phrygian cap (headgear typical of the Revolution), and a lictor’s (officer to a roman consul) weapon.
14 - Cathedral cloister
Listed Building Circa 1230
At the heart of the religious quarter, the former canonical area, the cloister bears witness to the importance of the Chapter. The community of Canons, which elected the Bishop, formed a collective domain both rich and influential. The cloister was originally formed by four galleries surrounding a garden. It was a closed place of meditation, and burial, for the canons. The gothic galleries were vaulted with intersecting ribs and were decorated with capitals of buds or leaves. The bays giving onto the garden had stone tracing as in a church window, which were still visible at the beginning of the 19th century. Above the southern gallery was a loft space for storage of tithes; likewise that of the east (rebuilt in 1748) housed the Chapter library.
During the revolution two of the galleries were destroyed. After several changes of use the remaining structures housed a primary school until 1980. Following major restoration, the municipal library ‘Marcel Arland’ was opened here in 1987.
Since 1991 the central court has been the showcase for a modern work of art by Francois Bouillon, called \"Y d’If\". Like a reliquary from earlier times, the well in the middle houses a piece of yew shaped as an Y. This letter, the convergence of three directions, can symbolise the Trinity or purity. The spiral, evoking infinity, is punctuated by numerous Y’s as one gradually moves away from the centre.
15 - The Bishops Guard-Room
Listed building – 1633
Up until the Revolution it was the role of the inhabitants themselves to stand guard on the ramparts. All citizens over the age of fifteen were enlisted into the service of their local ‘police’, which was responsible for a constant surveillance of their section of the ramparts.
In order that they might take shelter and perhaps warm themselves during the watch, the sentries had use of guardrooms, often equipped with a fireplace. Projecting away from the ramparts, this guardroom allowed surveillance of the lower parts of the ramparts and immediate access thereto. Opposite the former Bishop’s Palace, this guardroom made up a little for the absence of other protective buildings on this stretch of the wall.
19 - Amboise house, also called de Rose
Listed Building Early 16th century
This house was probably built by Jean d’Amboise, Dean of the Chapter and then Bishop of Langres from 1496 to 1510. It is the first known appearance of Renaissance architecture in Langres. Its sculpted pilasters in low relief and the frieze, bearing arms of the Amboise family, are borrowed from the Italian Renaissance. The original roof was probably more slender and decorated with dormer windows, respecting the gothic aesthetic which was still in vogue. This facade, which gave initially on to a large garden leading up to the cathedral, became visible with the opening of the road at the beginning of the 20th century.
Its current name is due to the marquis de Rose who was the owner in the middle of the 19th century.
24 - Watch-house
Listed Building End of 15th century
Originally endowed with few and small openings, this building seems to have been designed with a defensive function rather than residential. Its proximity to one of the gates to the canonical quarter (the Moab Gate which was destroyed in the middle of the 19th century) supports this hypothesis. The canons of the cathedral, who were masters of this part of the town, were in all probability responsible for the construction of this building. The watchtower placed at one of the corners allowed access to be controlled to the canonical enclave. Its steeply sloping roof is made of chestnut shingles. The supports of the old wooden gutters as well as the gargoyles can still be seen.
25 - Half-timbered house
15th century
Many houses in Langres have inherited from the medieval period their relatively narrow fronts and many storeys, as well as their residential and artisan functions. In order to keep up with the times, many facades giving on to the streets would be modified during the following centuries. With its wooden framework, this house is an exception. Its different functions are clearly superimposed: the two cellar levels for stock, the ground floor in stone served as the craftsman’s workshop, the floors above as living space.
32 - Place Diderot
The former Place Chambeau has for a long time backed on to the fortifications of the Late Empire. Before the building of the current rue Leclerc in 1612, the former Gallo-Roman cardo (on a north-south axis) stopped here.
Denis Diderot was born here at number 9, in 1713. Born into a family of cutlery makers, he studied at the nearby Jesuit College before leaving for Paris at the age of 15. An eclectic and prolific author, he wrote within many different genres, including philosophy, novels, theatre and as an art critic. Denouncing intolerance and rejecting the authority of traditional morality, he struggled, with others, for the triumph of reason and universal human happiness. His brilliant and surprisingly modern work, remains \"l’Encyclopedie\". Diderot was to be, with d’Alembert, the unremitting master of this work of human knowledge for more than two decades. 1884, the centenary of his death, became the occasion to rebaptise the square in his name and to raise a statue to him. The work of Frédéric Bartholdi, the statue rests on a pedestal, which lists the principle collaborators of the encyclopaedic project.
37 - Sous-Murs Gate and Tower
Listed building 13th century and 1502. M Modified in 1859
The protection of the Sous-Murs dirstrict was assured by a forward gate- a barbican- within which was a building housing a tollbooth for paying taxes on merchandise entering the city.
The small artillery tower built in the early 16th century protected the nearby gate. Shaped like a horseshoe, it consisted of one room endowed with lateral embrasures giving onto the flanks. From this position soldiers with arquebuse (early rifles) could control the immediate surroundings, whilst small calibre cannon could be used above on the terrace.
38 - Henry the Fourth Gate
Listed building Modified in 1604 and 1846
This gate leads to the Sous-Murs quarter (below the walls), given over, in the 13th century, to the tanners. This is not only the only eastern access to the city, it is also the steepest. The openings, for carriages and pedestrians, both had a ditch and a drawbridge, of which remain the housings for the beams used to lift the gates. A double door and a portcullis completed the defences of this structure. Until the Revolution a statue of Henri the Fourth astride Pegasus decorated this gate. A niche with a statue of the Virgin and Child assured the safety of the city in case of attack. In 1846, the military engineers improved the defences of the quarter and the gate with a defensive hideout in front of the Virot Tower.
42 - Michaux Tower
Listed building Mid 14th century. Modified in 1845
This tower was part of the 14th century walls, which protected the districts south of the town. It was initially equipped with three rooms, one on top of the other, with openings allowing the defence of the fortification base. During the renovation of the ramparts in the middle of the 19th century, this structure were completely transformed. The rooms were filled in and the facings totally renewed. Up until this time a covered gallery protected the walkway and the lookouts on the ramparts from bad weather. This was progressively taken down during the period 1814 and 1847.
49 - Virot Tower
Listed building Circa 1470
This tower is at the junction of the city walls and those of the Sous-Murs suburb. Built – or largely revised – during the 1470’s, it protected the Henri the Fourth gate, which controlled communication between the city and the nearby suburb. It is contemporaneous with the St Ferjoux Tower, but does not appear to have benefitted from the same influences on its construction as did the latter. Its weapon slits are clumsily made giving a very limited range of cover. Originally a roof made of flat stones called laves protected its terrace.
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