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The lists district before full
expropriation. Photograph
Léopold Verguet, about 1863.
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The lists district after full
expropriation. First half
of the XXth Century
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| THE WILL TO PRESERVE THE OLD CITY
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Soldier on guard and occupant in front of one of
the houses in the lists district. About 1860 |
  he
local leaders and intellectuals, and in particular, Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille,
organised themselves to preserve the endangered fortress. This was
by no means an isolated act, for it was part of a new awareness of
historical heritage. From 1835, they had the active support of Prosper
Mérimée, inspector of historic monuments. The old Saint-Nazaire
- Saint-Celse Cathedral was the first to benefit, in
1840, from being classified as a protected historic monument. This
was quickly followed by the beginning of restoration work. Classification
was extended to the rest of the fortress in 1849, and the architect
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc immediately carried out a detailed study of
the state of the fortifications in view of future work. Similarly,
in 1852, the State undertook the progressive clearing of the houses
in the lists,
resorting if necessary to expropriating the property of the the inhabitants
who bitterly resented these authoritarian measures. This long term
operation lasted more than half a century and symbolised the city's
entrance into a new status as a historic monument, to the detriment
of its residents who were dispossessed of their destiny. |
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