The hostellerie du Lyon d’Or, one of the oldest – if not the oldest – half-timbered building in the south of France, is listed in the inventory of historical monuments.
The picturesque alleys of the Panessac district have been preserved with half-timbered and corbelled houses, witnesses of a past which can delight discerning tourists. Located in the heart of this district, the hostel is distinguished by the dimensions of its two-storey facade, in half-timbered Saint-André crosses, typical of the 15th century, and corbelled. The date of the beginning of the construction of the building is one of the questions raised by the hostelry, as well as its successive improvements over the centuries. However, the latest studies (Girardclos, Perrault, 2005; Conan, 2009) conclude that it was built in the second decade of the 16th century. Most of the wood analyzed provided felling dates ranging from 1507 to 1511.
The use of the building was also confusing. The door, in the central part, is confined by gray stone pilasters with a right lintel decorated with a key with a seated lion, dating from the 19th century. It is undoubtedly this confusion between lion with a mane and a sheared dog which for a long time contributed to name the building “House of the shearer of the dog”.
Inestimable heritage value
The building is made up of four main buildings arranged around a central courtyard, where galleries served more than a dozen living rooms spread over two floors. Some inhabitants (our edition of March 6, 2020) still remember their young years spent in this place. This building of inestimable heritage value is now the property of the municipality. Sometimes open to the public, for example on the occasion of heritage days in September, it offers extraordinary potential which today only asks to be exploited. It would offer the city a new dimension, commensurate with its heritage and its rich, often unrecognized past.
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