Place du Pilori

You are now on the “Place du Pilori”, which is aptly named as it was once the place where condemned prisoners were tied to the pillory, the pole used to display them in front of everyone before they were hanged. The pillory has, of course, disappeared, but here on the right is a remarkable half-timbered house dating from the 15th century. It was probably a merchant’s house. These very special houses, also known as “maison à colombages” in French or timber-framed if we translate, were very common in the Middle Age, as this was how houses were usually built. This one has another medieval characteristic: it is said to be corbelled, meaning its upper story projects out onto the street. This was a way of enlarging the house without having to pay a tax based on the surface of the ground floor. Timber-framed houses were banned from the 16th century onwards, as they considerably increased the risk of fire. At that time, fires were very frequent, and spread at great speed because of them. That’s also why they became increasingly rare. However, there are still a large number of them in France, and you’re looking at a fine example. Just imagine, back in the day, the town was made up of nothing but similar houses!