Maison Thomassin (Thomassin House), Lyon

Maison Thomassin in Place du Change is one of the oldest buildings in the area. Back in the day, the square was the centre of the local textile industry, hosting three to four trade fairs every year, bringing merchants from all over France, Italy and Belgium. Many merchants made their fortunes here during that time, including the Thomassin family.

The Thomassins bought a house, which had stood on the square since 1298, in 1493 and gave it a Gothic style makeover. Further renovations took place in the 18th and 20th centuries. Among them were the first floor mullioned windows surmounted by frieze of the signs of the Zodiac, and the twin bays of mullioned windows embellished by two trefoil arcs. Above them is another, ogival arc bearing the carved coats of arms of the Dauphin (which literally means a dolphin and symbolizes the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France), plus the coats of arms of King Charles VIII (in the form of lily flower) and that of Queen Anne of Brittany (an ermine) on the second floor.

What's left of the original house today is only the painted ceiling on the first floor, discovered during renovations in 1964. Made of wood and bearing the coats of arms of Saint Louis, his mother Blanche de Castille, and of the Fuers – the original owners of the property, this is one of the oldest surviving painted ceilings in France.