Exterior view
by PUGET, Pierre, Photo
Aix-en-Provence was the accomplished model of a town that was also the seat of a provincial parlement. From 1646 Cardinal Michel Mazarin (brother to the king’s minister) had the “Mirabeau” neighbourhood (called Quartier Mazarin) laid out to the south of the former main street. Private residences with noble, sober fa�ades were set along rectilinear streets enlivened by fountains, such as the one called Quatre-Dauphins, made by Jean-Claude Rambot. To the north are faintly Baroque fa�ades traditionally attributed to Pierre Puget: H�tel Boyer d’Eguilles (c. 1675) and Hotel d’Estienne de Saint-Jean (now the Old Aix Museum). Giant orders characterize these fa�ades.