The belfry of Évreux retains its fifteenth-century character almost in its entirety. That of Avignon, a monument of the close of the fifteenth century, was happily spared when the town-hall was replaced by a modern structure.
229. BELFRY OF AVIGNON
The gate-house of the hôtel de ville at Bordeaux, known as the grosse cloche, is an example of the more ancient usage. Here we find the bell hung over the gateway, as already described. The belfry of Bordeaux, which appears to date from the fifteenth century, is very remarkable. It consists of two towers connected by a curtain through which is an arched passage. A second arch protects the great bell in the upper story, and the whole is surmounted by a central roof, flanked right and left by the conical crowns of the lateral turrets.
230. BELFRY GATE AT BORDEAUX, KNOWN AS LA GROSSE CLOCHE
Markets, warehouses, and exchanges were often annexes of the town-halls. A few examples of such buildings have been preserved, but those of the third class are extremely rare. A specimen, remarkable both for construction and decoration, which recall the Spanish architecture of the fourteenth century, still exists at Perpignan. It is a house known as La Loge, built in 1396, which originally served as exchange to the cloth merchants of French Catalonia and Roussillon.
Palaces.—In the Middle Ages the name palace was given to the dwelling of the sovereign. Its chief feature was the basilica or judgment-hall.
The great nobles followed the royal example and constructed palaces in the capitals of their feofs, as at Dijon, Troyes, and Poitiers, which are the most important of such examples.
The town-houses of archbishops and bishops were also called palaces.