Celebrating its 934th anniversary this year, the Demeure de l’Apothicaire is claimed by its owner to be the oldest house in France. Right in the heart of the medieval town of Cluny, this building, almost a thousand years old, probably holds the record in France, and it’s possible to visit it.
The oldest house in France is only 3 hours by train from Paris.
Although Jeanne’s House in Aveyron has become known worldwide, particularly on the Internet, as the oldest house in France, it doesn’t deserve its title. To find the oldest house in France, you have to go to Cluny, where, long before the arrival of the Dukes of Burgundy, the town was chosen as the site of a magnificent abbey in 909. It’s precisely around this building that little streets were dug out and typical medieval houses built. Among the vestiges of this era is the famous Demeure de l’Apothicaire, a Romanesque house dating from 1091.
The owner, a retired architect with a passion for medieval history, undertook extensive research and study of the house in order to unlock its secrets. This work revealed details of the house’s construction. For example, wooden elements dating from the winter of 1090-1091 were found, attesting to the building’s age.
If you’d like to take a trip back in time to the Middle Ages, the Demeure de l’Apothicaire is open to visitors! In fact, its owner has turned it into a comfortable gîte, where you can even spend the night. A chance to dream a little and imagine the life of the potion-maker who lived there centuries ago.