Collinebourg Bourse

Collinebourg Bourse
Bourse de Collinebourg (Burgoignesc) Collinebourgsche Börse (Gothic)
Façade of the Collinebourg Bourse
General information
Architectural style	Yonderian renaissance
Location	Collinebourg, Collinebourg County
Country	Yonderre
Construction started	1628
Construction stopped	1642
Client	Auguste II de Houicourt
Owner	Government of Yonderre
Height	56 metres (184 ft)
Design and construction
Architect	Hubert d'Erole

The Collinebourg Bourse is a 17th-century stock exchange in the center of Collinebourg. It functioned as a stock exchange and permanent market place from 1633 until the completion of the construction of the Collinebourg Stock House in 1966. The Collinebourg Bourse today houses the Yonderian Finance Ministry. The Collinebourg is also a popular tourist attraction, most noted for its distinctive spire shaped as the tails of four dragons twined together, reaching a height of 56 metres (184 ft). The building itself is considered a leading example of the Yonderian Renaissance style and is a designated LoNESCO heritage site. The Collinebourg Bourse is thus a protected building for conservation purposes.

History

The Collinebourg Bourse in the late nineteenth century

The Collinebourg Bourse was ordered built by Grand Duke of Yonderre Auguste II de Houicourt to strengthen the role of Collinebourg in Vandarch-Catholic Levantia trade and commerce. Established architect Hubert d'Erole (1589-1654) was charged with the construction of the Bourse. Construction began in 1628 and was largely finished in 1633, the spire being installed in 1634 and the façade completed in 1642. The building contained 40 trading offices at the ground floor and one large room at the upper floor. The Collinebourg Bourse narrowly escaped the Great Fire of Collinebourg in 1728 by the intentional demolition of a neighbouring house on the night of the 21st/22nd October, thus stopping the spread of the fire to the Bourse building itself. The Collinebourg Bourse briefly served as a refugee shelter in the immediate aftermath of the Great Fire by order of the Grand Duke of Yonderre Giles IV de Mortain.

A ban on the trading of all livestock larger than swans on the premises of the Collinebourg Bourse was put into place by Collinebourg's 45 Men in 1736 when a stampede of cattle in the main trade hall killed three and injured several dozen people. The ban was only lifted again in 1808. The Collinebourg Bourse became home to the Yonderian Stock Exchange when it was established in 1849 and remained so until the completion of the Collinebourg Stock House in 1966. Since then, the Collinebourg Bourse has been home to the Yonderian Finance Ministry and a museum about the history of the Bourse itself.