History

June 26, 2021

Discovery of the metamorphosis that shows off an exceptional building, a protected environment. First there is the square. To sit down and see in the distance the peaks and bell towers that dot the horizon. Admire the fountain.
Push open the doors – from the moment you enter, the past and the present subtly combine their sensibilities – pass under the vaulted ceiling, hear your heart beat, cross the Patio under the glass roof that lets in the golden Mediterranean light, visit the Foundation, go to the lobby, cross the rooms and salons decorated with frescoes and gilding, reconstructed as the artists left them, admire the kitchens. Take the stairs. Raise your eyes and look at the antique busts and contemporary works of art. Go to the second floor and take a long break in the sumptuous bar, former wedding hall, discover your room.

Here you are in the new place of charm and elegance of Montpellier, the Hotel Richer de Belleval.

In the kitchen it is the sensibility of chefs Jacques & Laurent Pourcel that reigns supreme. Tastings and culinary experiences to discover in the dining room. Montpellier is back to excellence.

2021

After years of work delayed by confinements, the Hôtel Richer de Belleval opens twenty rooms, restaurants, terrace, patio and contemporary art foundation. In the heart of the city.

The Hôtel Richer de Belleval reconnects with pomp, elegance and art.

Great and beautiful houses never die. It is necessary to know how to dare to wake up the sleeping beauties and to give back splendour and life to exceptional places and to make as if no sleep had ever touched the ancient stones. The building has been meticulously renovated without falling into the folly of turning it into a museum.

2016

The rehabilitation begins.

2010

Rebirth by the will of lovers of old stones and the Place de la Canourgue, the Helenis Group and the Pourcel Group, animated by the furious challenge to give back to this building its panache and to allow the city of Montpellier to reconnect with the great and beautiful gastronomy, so long carried and illustrated with brilliance and talent by Jacques & Laurent Pourcel and Olivier Château at the Jardin des Sens of the Avenue Saint-Lazare. The two groups were made to combine their know-how and their ambition in the service of their beloved city, Montpellier.

1975

The city hall takes its new space on the Place de la Comédie side. The Hôtel Richer de Belleval becomes the Tribunal des Prud’hommes and will remain so until 2010.

1827

The twelve columns on the first floor are put in place to consolidate the building.

1816

The private house is bought by the city from the de Belleval family to become the city hall.

1709

Gaspard de Belleval married Elisabeth de Fressieux, who brought him a dowry of adjoining houses which allowed him to enlarge the mansion from behind.

1676

Charles de Boulhaco, adviser to the Court of Accounts, Aids and Finances of Montpellier, reunited the buildings of the square and built his private mansion with an austere facade which survived the passage of time, and still stands today

1621

Siege of the city, the buildings of the square are destroyed. On the ruins, a beautiful square is born. The construction of a new cathedral was abandoned. A cross with a stele is erected. Pierre Richer de Belleval (1564-1632) lives in one of the buildings of the square.

1568

Wars of religion. The chapel was destroyed by the Protestants and rebuilt.

1480

The Little Canourgue includes an orchard and two houses: the Canourgue, or presbytery, and the tinal, or cellar of the benefit.

1128

A hill with an unobstructed view of the garrigue and the hamlets, chosen by Lord Guilhem VI to build his palace and an oratory which shelters relics brought back from Palestine. A few years later, the lord moved a little further and gave his first palace to the prior of St Firmin.