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Durzy townhouse and the legend of the Dog of Montargis

The dog's statue, hotel Durzy | Anecdotrip.com / CC-BY-NC-SA
Garden Statue Animals Legend Town house Durzy townhouse

The Durzy house (current Girodet museum) was laid out in the 19th century in order to house city's paintings collections. Look! Low reliefs on the façade were carved by Henri de Triqueti, a Romantic sculptor who was born in the area. In the townhouse garden, we can see a statue, which represent "the dog of Montargis". It's a legend... It took place in the reign of king Charles X. Aubry de Montdidier was the king's favourite: one day he strolled along in the Bondy forest, with his old companion, a greyhound, and his best friend Macaire, a nobleman. But Macaire was eaten up with jealousy! Why? Just because Aubry was the king's favourite... So this fine day, he killed Aubry near a tree... and let him there. A few days later, the king, worried, sent his guards looking for Aubry. They found the dog moaning and scratching the ground... near a corpse. Here he was, poor Aubry! They picked up the body and brought back the dog in Montargis. Later, in the city, our greyhound came across his master's murderer: oh, he became so aggressive! People were amazed: they had to rush on his collar in order to prevent him to jump down Macaire's throat! Well, what was wrong with this doggy? Did he really want to smash him into pieces?! But each time the dog came across Macaire, the beast wanted to fight. The king was informed and became worried about the suspect behaviour of Macaire and the boundless obstinacy of the dog. He ordered a fight! The winner would be inevitably the innocent one... So, as soon as the fight began, the dog knocked down Macaire: this one confessed his crime and was hung. Now, come with me near the statue, to see arches of the Tournemotte hotel, erected in the garden. Those arches came from a house located in a street in Lorris: it was raised by Templars in the 13th century, and sold by the notary Jean Tournemotte in 1475.

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!