TheTribunal de commerce de Paris ("Paris commercial court[house]"), until 1968Tribunal de commerce de la Seine, refers both to thetribunal de commerce ofParis, a commercial court, and to the building that hosts it on theÎle de la Cité inParis. Because that building's main entrance is on thequai de la Corse [fr], the phraseQuai de la Corse is used as a nickname for the court, not least with reference to its role incorporate insolvencies.[1]
The Tribunal de commerce de Paris traces its roots to the commercial court ortribunal des juges et des consuls de Paris, created in 1563 byChancellorMichel de l'Hôpital. Like other such institutions, it was renamedtribunal de commerce in August 1790 during theFrench Revolution. Aside from the first few years atAbbaye Saint-Magloire de Paris [fr], the court was located onRue du Cloître-Saint-Merri [fr] next to theChurch of Saint Merri from 1570 to 1826. In 1826, it moved to the newly builtPalais Brongniart, also home of theParis Bourse.[2] From 1790 to 1968 it was theTribunal de commerce de la Seine, and took its current name with the dismantling of theSeine Department in 1968.
In 1857, theConseil général de la Seine [fr] decided the construction of a new building for the Tribunal de Commerce and theconseil des prud'hommes, which later moved to a separate location. Part of the grounds that were reserved for it had been the location of the ancientChurch of Saint-Barthélemy [fr]. Following its demolition in 1791, the church had been replaced by entertainment venues, first theThéâtre de la Cité-Variétés and then thePrado ballroom. That building and nearby houses, in turn, were demolished in 1858 for the complete remodeling of the middle section of theÎle de la Cité, a major project ofHaussmann's renovation of Paris.
The courthouse building for the Tribunal de Commerce was built between 1859 and 1865 on a design by architectAntoine-Nicolas Bailly, inspired by the RenaissancePalazzo della Loggia inBrescia. It was ceremoniously inaugurated byNapoleon III on 26 December 1865,[3] and the court's first hearing was held the next day.[2] In the 1930s, it underwent a remodeling that transformed the atrium's ceiling and lower parts of the northern façade, but has otherwise been largely preserved in its original state.[2]
The main entrance, on theQuai de la Corse, is decorated with statues ofLaw byÉlias Robert,Justice byJacques-Hyacinthe Chevalier [fr],Firmness byLouis-Adolphe Eude [fr], andPrudence byJules Salmson [fr].[3] Above these is a decorated pediment supported by four figures sculpted byAlbert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse. The ornate octagonaldome rises to a height of 45 meters and is the building's most distinctive exterior feature. It is positioned to close the perspective of theBoulevard de Sébastopol, and as a consequence, is not aligned with the center of the building's façade.
The interior is organized around two monumental spaces: to the east, a columnedatrium (French:salle des pas-perdus), and to the west, a monumental staircase under the building's dome, entered through a vestibule decorated by a pair of monumental lions sculpted byPierre Louis Rouillard. The staircase is decorated with colossal statues representingMaritime Commerce, byHenri Chapu;Land Commerce, byPaul Cabet;Mechanical Art, byHippolyte Maindron [fr]; andIndustrial Art, byMichel-Pascal [fr]. Above these are 16caryatids by sculptorDidier Début [fr], and the dome's ceiling with representations ofthe City of Paris,Arts,the City ofMarseille,Grain harvest,the City ofLyon,Industry,the City ofBordeaux, andGrape-harvest, byArmand Félix Marie Jobbé-Duval.[4] On the first floor, the main hearing room (French:grande salle d'audience) is decorated with busts of the court's founderMichel de l'Hôpital and ofJean-Baptiste Colbert, author of theordonnance sur le commerce of 1673, and with historical paintings byPaul-Louis Delance andJoseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury.[4]
