Hôtel de la Préfecture de la Meuse

In the heart of the Bourg district, the site of the prefecture has concentrated religious, hospital, political and administrative functions over the centuries. The buildings of the official residence of the Prefect of the Meuse bear witness to this rich past.
Near the first fortified castle, a church dedicated to Saint Denis was founded in the High Middle Ages. It was for a long time the only religious establishment on the left bank, before its destruction at the beginning of the 19th century. In the 12th century, the Benedictines of the Notre-Dame priory created a Maison-Dieu in place of the castle, intended to provide care for the sick and assistance to the most destitute. In 1382, Duke Robert the Magnificent entrusted the monastic hospital order of the Antonists with the task of administering this institution. A part of the conventual buildings rebuilt in the 18th century constitutes the core of the current prefecture. A staircase, a wrought iron railing, sculpted niches and the garden date from this period. The neo-classical façade built on the rue du Bourg by the departmental architect
Dubois in 1821, ostentatiously announces the new official vocation of this building of the Republic.
It was not until 1906 that the façade opening onto the Place Reggio was built by the departmental architect Royer. This construction, made possible by the demolition of the old town hall in 1867 but delayed by the war of 1870, is part of the historicist trend of the 19th century. The high roofs with monumental chimneys, the dormers decorated with pediments and the large mullioned openings, evoking the Lorraine cross by their shape, place this new wing in the line of neo-Renaissance constructions traditionally reserved for town halls. The wing opening onto Rue du Bourg, which housed the Departmental Archives until 1968, dates from the same period.