Ancien enclos Tivoli (jardin de la cathédrale)

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

This manor, or country house, is situated at the gates of the city, between the present-day rues Charlet and Ernest-Renan. It was built for Jean Mercier, doctor and professor of law at the University of Bourges, and was reputed in the 16th century for its gardens and statues. Of this destroyed folly, called in the 16th century the Gué aux Dames, in the 18th century the Gué aux clercs, then in the 19th century Enclos Tivoli, there remained, when the order was signed in 1930, a gate and a well which each bore the arms of the Mercier family. The gate and the well had been handed over to the State Lands Office, with a view to alienation, by the military authority which, at that date, was the owner of unoccupied buildings situated at the location of the Gué-aux-Dames, and put up for sale; withdrawn from the sale, these two elements would then have been transported to the garden which borders the north side of the cathedral. They would have been moved again, around 1970, during the archaeological excavation campaign conducted on this site. The well is deposited in the courtyard of the former Jesuit college (currently School of Fine Arts, at number 9 rue Edouard-Branly). The whereabouts of the gate are unknown.