The gate-house of the _hôtel de ville_ at Bordeaux, known as the _grosse cloche_, is an example of the more ancient usage. Here we find the bell hung over the gateway, as already described. The belfry of Bordeaux, which appears to date from the fifteenth century, is very remarkable. It consists of two towers connected by a curtain through which is an arched passage. A second arch protects the great bell in the upper story, and the whole is surmounted by a central roof, flanked right and left by the conical crowns of the lateral turrets. [Illustration: 230. BELFRY GATE AT BORDEAUX, KNOWN AS _LA GROSSE CLOCHE_] Markets, warehouses, and exchanges were often annexes of the town-halls. A few examples of such buildings have been preserved, but those of the third class are extremely rare. A specimen, remarkable both for construction and decoration, which recall the Spanish architecture of the fourteenth century, still exists at Perpignan. It is a house known as _La Loge_, built in 1396, which originally served as exchange to the cloth merchants of French Catalonia and Roussillon. _Palaces._--In the Middle Ages the name palace was given to the dwelling of the sovereign. Its chief feature was the basilica or judgment-hall. The great nobles followed the royal example and constructed palaces in the capitals of their feofs, as at Dijon, Troyes, and Poitiers, which are the most important of such examples. The town-houses of archbishops and bishops were also called palaces. The courts, parliaments, and tribunals of the executive were held in the palace of the suzerain or the bishop, where certain of the buildings were open to the public. The important feature, the great hall (_grand salle_), occupied a vast covered space in which the plenary courts were held, the vassals assembled, and banquets were given. It communicated with galleries or ambulatories. A chapel was always included in the plan of the palace, which consisted of the lodging of the lord and his followers; offices, often of great extent; rooms for the storing of archives; magazines, prisons, and innumerable auxiliary buildings, divided by courtyards, and in some cases by gardens. [Illustration: 231. CLOTH HALL AT PERPIGNAN, KNOWN AS _LA LOGE_] In Paris the palace proper, which was in the Île de la Cité, consisted of buildings constructed from the time of St. Louis to the reign of Philip the Fair. From the reign of Charles V. it was specially devoted to the administration of justice. The only remains of the buildings of St. Louis are the _Ste. Chapelle_, the two great towers with their intervening curtain on the _Quai de l'Horloge_, and the square clock tower at the angle of the quay.