La Maison des Chevaliers à Viviers

Description

This is a Romanesque residence that a wealthy merchant, Noël Albert, had transformed into a Renaissance-style building (façade) in 1546 by mason and sculptor Louis Pic de Pont-Saint-Esprit. Costume exhibition in one room.

A roman house belonging to a rich merchant, Noël Albert, transformed in to the Renaissance style (façade) from 1546 by the mason Louis Pic from Pont-Saint-Esprit.
Noël Albert was born in Vivers around 1511. He was a salt merchant who got rich by neglecting to pass on the tax he collected to the king. During the religious wars, he took charge of the Huguenots and seized the town by force. He was arrested and executed in Toulouse on August 30th 1568. The façade is made up of 4 levels, all lavishly decorated. The ground floor has been subjected to changes but above the doors the decoration is still intact : acanthus, women and men's busts and coats of arms, each with a helmet. The levels are separated by carved friezes, scenes of equestrian combat between the first and the second, and foliage between the higher levels. The two identical windows on the first floor are framef with pilasters. The lintel of every window is embellished with ornate brackets, separating a motif which is repeated four time, a ram's head surrounded by a garland of foliage. The second floor is decorated with corinthian columns. The third floor is supported by termes, a kind of caryatids.