Pavillon Saint-Mart or fontaine des goutteux

In 1912, to boost business at the spa, Auguste Rouzaud, owner of the chocolate factory “À la Marquise de Sévigné”, asked architect Louis Jarrier (1862-1982) to rebuild the building, whose spring had been in operation since 1880. The waters were first of all ingested, and then the benefits of leg bathing were discovered. On a cramped piece of land at the edge of the Tiretaine river, Jarrier created an asymmetrical building inspired by Antiquity and the Byzantine Empire, with semi-circular arches, dome, screen walls and Roman barrel roof tiles.

The monumental entrance is enhanced by an arch with a row of billets, with its archivolt decorated with a mosaic. The sign, the Saint-Mart coat-of-arms and the fountain in the rushes are made from Briare enamel, while the bottom is made from ceramic sandstone. The words “founded in the century of Augustus” could refer to the antique past of the spa and to the proximity of the Roman baths, but serve as a humorous nod. In reality they are a reference to August Rouzaud.

Inside, beneath the dome, the drink stand is staged with a glass bell-shaped cover. The eleven treatment rooms with bath tubs are preceded by a small lounge area. The shower room, with tiles depicting water lilies, has retained the entirety of its spraying system. All the other walls are covered with metropolitan-style white tiles. The spa was inaugurated in 1912. The building has been on the historic monuments registry since 1948. It was closed for treatments permanently in 1980. The spring was directed to the spa for external treatments and to the drink stand for internal treatments.

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