The oldest house in Paris
Labels :
DaVinci Code,
Harry Potter,
Nicolas Flamel,
Oldest house in Paris,
Paris 10,
Paris architecture
This is the oldest still existing building in Paris, from 1407. More ore less impossible to take a “decent” photo, the street is narrow. The address is 51, rue de Montmorency, 3rd arrdt. There is a restaurant on the ground floor.It was built for Nicolas Flamel (1330? – 1417), an interesting personality. He was a very successful scrivener, manuscript maker and seller. (This was before Gutenberg.)
He incidentally got hold of a book which he then thought to be the Codex, the “Book of Abraham”, and he spent some 20 years to together with his wife to decode the contents, according to what was thought, sufficiently well to recreate the recipe for the Philosopher’s Stone, producing gold and the elixir for eternal life. Anyhow, he became very rich… and when his grave was later opened it was empty…
He was certainly a great alchemist and his works in this area were taken seriously, studied by scientists during centuries, including by Isaac Newton, whose main “hobby” seems to have been alchemy. Flamel is also mentioned as one of the Grand Masters of the obviously imaginary “Priory of Sion” and as such is of course referred to in the Da Vinci Code. He was also pretended to be a friend of Albus Dumbledore and to be the inventor of the Philosophers’ (or Sorcerer’s) Stone in the first Harry Potter book. He has been forgotten neither by Victor Hugo, nor by Umberto Eco.It is believed that if he got rich, it’s rather thanks to labour and good, possibly more or less morally correct, investments. He was a generous person – spent most of his money on building hospices, repairing churches and helping the poor. The house we can see was opened to needing persons.
The inscription (“Nous homes et femes laboureurs…”) which still can be seen on the front of the house says more or less in a free and abbreviated translation: “The men and women who live in this house will have the right to a daily Paternoster and Ave Maria….”
35 comments:
what a guy and he was studied by newton ... woooooo
wow! but that doesnt look OLD.
Keshi.
History brought to life through your photos and your words is a pleasure, Peter.
I can't imagine a 15th century building!
Wow...this is an old building...and you can still read the words....
Je ne connaissais pas du tout cette maison, merci pour l'histoire qui va avec. cela donne envie d'y faire un detour
Great post. I thought Flamel was fictional, passed down through generations of writers until he gained mythological status. Guess I was wrong! Informative as usual. And great pictures!
Tu dois travailler beaucoup pour faire tes découvertes. Je suis muette d'admiration.
Very historic. Loved the building. Bet that restaurant is pricey as it's in such a prime location!
azer:
Yes, I understand the Isaac, so "scientific", surprisingly enough was completely passionate about the alchemy issue, making gold out of lead etc... This is of course a major reason why Dan Brown gave him a big "role" in the Da Vinci code.
keshi:
The restaurant has of course got new window framings... and the facade is at present being restored by the City of Paris.
annie:
Thanks!
kate:
I feel that it's actually surprising that there are no older buildings. There are of course some ruins... but this is the oldest, still functioning, house.
neva:
Yes, the words are there and were put there already when Nicolas was around!
olivier:
On ne peut pas être sécialiste de tout, connaître Evry ET Paris dans tous ses détails!
jessica:
No he is not fictional. There may be some fiction around him!
hpy:
Je suis content d'avoir des admiratrices - au moins une!
glenn:
I believe the prices are reasonable - for Paris. The street and the place is not much visited. I understand they serve some medivial dishes. Must try it one day.
Voilà la deuxième (admiratrice)Très interessant j'avais entendu parler de lui, mais n'avais jamais poussé ma curiosité à fond! voilà qui est fait.En tous cas s'il n'avait pas trouvé la façon de changer les pierres en or, il avait trouvé l'elixir de la longévité! 80 ans à cette époque c'était vraiment vieux, mais il n'y avait pas d'état civil, ou si peu que, l'on pouvait rajouter des années.
Dans ce restaurant ils cuisinent des plats d'inspiration médiévale, là aussi je suis curieuse de savoir ce que c'est, tu n'as pas essayé?
Et le cimetière des innocents tu connais? Belle promenade et trouvaille aujourd'hui.
Nicolas Flamel, je connaissais le nom - mais je ne savais rien de son histoire.
La plus petite maison, la plus vieille maison, tu nous fais le livre des records de Paris ? En tout cas c'est passionnant à chaque fois. Bravo pour toutes tes recherches et la variété des lieux que tu nous fais découvrir.
Oh! non la maison de Nicolas Flamel ! tu as trouvé les secrets de l'alchimie parisienne et ce n'est pas que de l'or ;)
Any ghost? Such an old house must have them ;)
Flamel, flamel, I wondered where I had read his name. But you told us: Dumbeldore's friend. Ah yes.
As they say "they don't make them like that any more".. Reading your piece I'm reminded that although we may regard the 15th century as "primitive" nevertheless there were high ideals and humanitarian acts that equal or even better what is done today. Great science, philanthropy, seeking for truth and understanding, a concern for quality.
Tu parles même d'Harry Potter ! Nicolas et sa femme détenaient ce pouvoir qui a été détruit pour éviter que le sorcier du mal s'en empare et donc le couple a perdu l'immortalité!
Toujous cette peur de la mort.
En tout cas, c'est extraordinaire que ce soit la plus ancienne maison de Paris, elle doit sa survie au fait qu'elle est en pierre. Les maisons en torchis ont brulé.
Sans doute il reste beaucoup de fondations et de caves qui sont aussi anciennes.
lyliane:
Donc deux; le nombre de mes admiratrices double d'un coup!
Oui, je connais le Cimetière des Innocents, si on peut dire - fermé depuis plus de 200 ans!
nathalie:
Oui, c'est quand même une coincidence que la plus vielle maison appartenait à un personage relativement célèbre!
lasiate:
Je pense que certains cherchent encore l'or de Nicolas, si non la vie éternelle!
matritensis:
I dared not to visit the inside!
april:
There are names like that...!
chuckeroon:
This centuries were often cruel, but there were certainly also a lot of good things, sometimes and possibly underestimated in history
marguerite:
Je vois que tu connais bien ton Harry Potter!
Oui, c'est clair qu'on peut trouver des traces des maisons plus vielles, mais ceci est une maison qui est encore entière (en train d'être retapée par la Mairie).
I also thought Flamel was a fictional character.
Always something new in this blog, although the house is old....:)
Bon je me demande quand les directeurs des maisons d'édition des guides de voyage et découvertes vont vous contacter pour vous engager. :-)
J'avais déjà entendu le nom de Flamel mais je n'ai jamais été à l'école avec lui. Contrairement à hpy qui connaît les bâtisseurs de pyramides, ma connaissance des grands hommes (plus de 1mètres 50) s'arrête au 20ème siècle.
Olalala, et voilà que je suis encore en train de délirer, sans doute ce gros mal de crâne qui s'installe... je travaille peut-être trop. N'auriez-vous pas un peu de potion magique pour bien me faire dormir?
:-)
Je T'embrasse cher Peter
I think it is extraordinary that we would have to find a cave to have a dwelling place older than your house here in this country.
The photos are nice and the narrative is too.
On donne tous les deux dans l'ancien, aujourd'hui...Mais où sont passés les colombages de celle-ci?
susupetal:
Nicolas has really existed, but there is obviously also some fiction linked to his name.
delirium:
Pour le moment j'ai refusé les offres!
... la potion arrive par la poste, si tu me donne ton adresse exacte!
alice:
De la pierre! Solide!
oldmanlincoln:
1407 was a long time ago, but in a certain way you could imagine that some even older houses could have been saved for the future; however not in Paris. I guess Haussmann destroyed a lot of them, opening the avenues.
Wow - but it doesnt look THAT old!
Tu exagères pour tes admiratrices, tu peux ajouter un zéro au nombre deux!! Pour le cimetière, celui là tu ne pourras pas le visiter, ni le commenter, à moins que tu ne l'ais fait dans une autre vie?tu m'as appris encore quelque chose, je le connaisais de nom,mais ne savais pas qu'il n'existait plus.
That is a wonderful tale about the Alchemist! It is interesting how many authors have used this 'entity' in their books!
ash:
It is being refurbished and looks actually very fresh, maybe too fresh (except the basement).
lyliane:
On apprend tous les jours.
mona:
Yes, these mysteries seem to interest many of us.
J'ai toujours pensé que la partie supérieure de la maison n'était pas d'époque, sans doute des rénovations malheureuses... la partie inférieure est toutefois spectaculaire ! Tu dis que c'est un restaurant médiéval ? Wahou, j'aimerais bien essayer cela !
mélisse:
D'accord avec toi; il y a des travaux en cours en ce moment. Quelques plats médiviaux; je n'ai pas essayé.
Good day !.
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