LE BOULEVARD DE LA ROCHELLE

The Boulevard de la Rochelle, the main commercial artery of the city, was originally a dirt road linking the suburb of Entre-Deux-Ponts and the Grand Pont-Neuf. The development of trade in the Lower Town from the end of the 18th century requires the reorganization of flows on this axis located outside the old medieval ramparts. Boulevard de la Rochelle owes its name to the property built around 1580 on this site by Jean Vincent, president of the Barrois audit office, ennobled by Duke Charles III. Its fortified appearance was reminiscent of a "Rochelle", an ancient word for a fortified castle. Numerous houses were then built on either side of this street giving rise to the present boulevard. At the request of Duke Leopold, the roadway was repaired from 1724. Planted with trees at the beginning of the 19th century, it became a place for the inhabitants to walk. The façade of the Saint-Jean church, which closes the perspective, was built in 1939. In 1618, the daughter of Jean Vincent, the owner of La Rochelle, donated her estate to the Order of the Minims, whose vocation was preaching and teaching. After the Revolution, the convent was destroyed and replaced by slaughterhouses on the banks of the Ornain and a covered market, which was in turn destroyed in 1972. The toponymy and a facade on the boulevard preserve the memory of the place. With the development of the commercial activity, the ground floors of the houses are transformed into shops and new constructions are carried out. Several banking establishments erected buildings to inspire customer confidence. Following the example of the bank built by Paul Varin-Bernier in 1910, these buildings have an opulent neoclassical decor. Built in 1926 according to the same principles, the main post office hotel was severely criticized. With the Gruber stained glass windows it contains, it is nevertheless today an important testimony to the presence of the Art Deco style in Bar-le-Duc.