David Poiron, professional stonemason, oversees the voluntary restoration of the Gothic cellar. - G. Novello

  • A voluntary project tackles the restoration of a 13th century cellar in the middle of the Marais.
  • The weekend of work is supervised by a professional stonemason and is organized by the association Paris Historique.
  • The site, carried out without machines, looks titanic but does not discourage the volunteers.

It is a place out of time. In the basement of 44-46 rue François Miron (4th arrondissement), in the heart of the Marais, there is a very unique site. Half a dozen volunteers are working on the restoration of a 13th-century Gothic cellar, under the patronage of the Paris Historique association. "The cellar belonged to a town house owned by the Cistercian Ourscamp abbey, 20 km from Noyon in the Oise," recalls Marie-Geneviève, retired and member of the association for ten years. And in this basement were stored the goods that the abbey sold on the Parisian markets. "

The house, which had only one ground floor, was added four floors in the 16th century to serve, among other things, as workshops for craftsmen. The centuries have paraded and worn out a building that is nothing more than a ruin at the dawn of the 1960s when the Paris Historique association, founded in 1963, decided to restore it and make it its headquarters in 1992 . The magnificent cellar, which "was cluttered with 20 tonnes of rubble," says Marie-Geneviève, is currently the subject of a global restoration project, notably at the level of the intersecting ribs. But the difficulty in raising the necessary funds slowed down the renovation process.

A site of good humor

This Sunday afternoon, the volunteers are supervised by David Poiron, craftsman and heritage mason. Voluble, he assumes "the very convivial side" of these weekends of restoration which take place every six weeks. "We have fun, that's the key word," he announces. For the moment, only one cross-piece of warheads has been restored. "We advance at a voluntary speed," explains the professional stonemason. They are not people in the trade. "In addition" everything is done by hand, there is no machine and we use natural lime / sand mortar ".

The edges of the intersecting ribs are restored, but the vaults still have to be installed. - G. Novello

On his scaffolding, hammer and chisel in hand, Philippe tackles the restoration of the vaults (the parts of vaults between the edges), a trying task but which he accomplishes with enthusiasm, even regretting "having missed his vocation ". Next to it, three volunteers are responsible for cutting the stone. Among them, Solenne, midnight blue hooded sweatshirt, which equalizes a stone which will be housed in an arc of a cross of warheads. “I am passionate about history and in love with Paris, says the one who works in HR, and at 35 I wanted to do something with my hands. "

A volunteer checks the regularity of the size of a stone under the eye of David Poiron. - G. Novello

After discovering the cellar during an open day last December, she decided to take the plunge and this is therefore her first weekend of construction. And she has no regrets. "It's great to work in a place like that," she enthuses. "It's a great way to talk about heritage and the manual trades." "And cutting stone is difficult? "I thought the stone was much harder, so it's fine, but it's a real trade, technical and it takes time. It will take time to complete the complete restoration of the cellar. Next construction weekend, March 14 and 15.

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VIDEO. Paris: Volunteers restore an abbey in the heart of the capital

  • Construction site
  • Paris
  • Volunteering