| Hôtel de Ville | |
|---|---|
 Main frontage of theHôtel de Ville in April 2017 | |
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| General information | |
| Type | City hall |
| Architectural style | Renaissance Revival |
| Location | Paris, France |
| Coordinates | 48°51′23″N2°21′09″E / 48.8564°N 2.3525°E /48.8564; 2.3525 |
| Completed | 1357 1533 (expansion) 1892 (reconstruction) |
| Height | 50 metres (160 ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architects | Théodore Ballu,Édouard Deperthes |
TheHôtel de Ville (French pronunciation:[otɛldəvil]ⓘ, "City Hall") is thecity hall ofParis, France, standing on thePlace de l'Hôtel-de-Ville – Esplanade de la Libération in the4th arrondissement. The south wing was originally constructed byFrancis I beginning in 1535 until 1551. The north wing was built byHenry IV andLouis XIII between 1605 and 1628.[1] It was burned by theParis Commune, along with all the city archives that it contained, during theSemaine Sanglante, the Commune's final days, in May 1871.[2] The outside was rebuilt following the original design, but larger, between 1874 and 1882, while the inside was considerably modified.[3] It has been the headquarters of the municipality of Paris since 1357. It serves multiple functions, housing thelocal government council, since 1977 themayors of Paris and their cabinets, and also serves as a venue for large receptions. It was designated amonument historique by the French government in 1975.[4]
In July 1357,Étienne Marcel,provost of the merchants (i.e. mayor) of Paris, bought the so-calledmaison aux piliers ("House of Pillars") in the name of the municipality on the gently sloping shingle beach which served as a river port for unloading wheat and wood and later merged into a square, thePlace de Grève ("Strand Square"), a place where Parisians often gathered, particularly for public executions. Ever since 1357, the City of Paris's administration has been located on the same location where the Hôtel de Ville stands today. Before 1357, the city administration was located in the so-calledparloir aux bourgeois ("Parlour of Burgesses") near theChâtelet.[5]
In 1533, KingFrancis I decided to endow Paris with a city hall which would be worthy of his capital, then the largest city of Europe andChristendom. He appointed two architects: ItalianDominique de Cortone, nicknamed Boccador because of his red beard, and FrenchmanPierre Chambiges. The House of Pillars was torn down and Boccador, steeped in the spirit of theRenaissance, drew up the plans of a building which was at the same time tall, spacious, full of light and refined. Building work was not finished until 1628 during the reign ofLouis XIII.[6]
During the next two centuries, no changes were made to the edifice which was the stage for several famous events during theFrench Revolution. On 14 July 1789, the last provost of the merchantsJacques de Flesselles was murdered by an angry crowd. On27 July 1794,Maximilien Robespierre attempted to commit suicide following a coup and was arrested along with his followers.[7]
From 1834, the Hôtel de Ville became the seat of the Paris municipal council.[8] In 1835, on the initiative ofClaude-Philibert Barthelot, comte de Rambuteau,préfet of theSeinedépartement, two wings were added to the main building and were linked to the façade by a gallery, to provide more space for the expanded city government. The architects wereÉtienne-Hippolyte Godde andJean-Baptiste Lesueur.[9]
Under theSecond Empire, the Hôtel de Ville was used by the new regime to showcase its power. In 1852, during the plebiscite in favor ofNapoleon III, the Hôtel was decorated with the colors of the Emperor and the imperial proclamation was made there.[10] It also became the seat of the Prefecture, in addition to hosting major celebrations such as the visit ofQueen Victoria in 1855.[11] To clear its access,Haussmann had nine streets razed to create the Avenue Victoria.[12]
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During theFranco-Prussian War, the building played a key role in several political events. On 30 October 1870, revolutionaries broke into the building and captured some of the members of theGovernment of National Defence, while making repeated demands for the establishment of acommunard government. The existing government escaped via a tunnel built in 1807, which still connects the Hôtel de Ville with a nearby barracks.[13]: Kindle 2416 On 23 January 1871, crowds gathered outside the building to protest against speculated surrender to the Prussians, and were dispersed by soldiers firing from the building, who inflicted several casualties.[13]: Kindle 4699
The Hôtel de Ville had been the headquarters of theFrench Revolution, and likewise, it was the headquarters of theParis Commune. On 23 and 24 May 1871, when defeat became increasingly imminent and the French army approached the building, the Communards set fire to the Hôtel de Ville, along with other government buildings, destroying it and almost all of the city archives prior to 1860.
Already, early that morning, the Commune added to the flames one of the finest and most historic buildings of all Paris – the Hôtel de Ville itself. At 8 a.m. some fifteen members met there to discuss its immediate evacuation, and onlyDelescluze and one other had protested. In its despair, a scorched-earth policy had now become the retreating Communard's automatic response, and by 11 a.m. the Hôtel de Ville was a sea of flames.[14]
Reconstruction of City Hall lasted from 1873 through 1892 (19 years) and was directed by architectsThéodore Ballu andÉdouard Deperthes, who had won the public competition for the building's reconstruction. The plan entailed the removal of the ruins, and the construction of a completely new building, with a central façade replicating the original 16th-centuryFrench Renaissance building. The side wings replicated those of the 1830-40s, but wider. The building was 50 metres (160 ft) high at its highest point.[15]
Behind the façades, the interior was based on an entirely new design, with ceremonial rooms lavishly decorated in the 1880s style. Ballu also designed theChurch of La Trinité in the9th arrondissement and the belfry of the town hall of the1st arrondissement, opposite theLouvre's east façade. He also restored theSaint-Jacques Tower, aGothic church tower in a square 150 metres (490 ft) to the west of the Hôtel de Ville.[16]
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Since theFrench Revolution, the building has been the scene of a number of historical events, notably the proclamation of theFrench Third Republic in 1870.[17]
Following theliberation of Paris by the French2nd Armoured Division on 25 August 1944, the chairman of theProvisional Government of the French Republic, GeneralCharles de Gaulle, gave a speech from a window of the town hall, in which he declared: "Paris! Paris outraged! Paris broken! Paris martyred! But Paris liberated!"[18][19][20]
In 2002 the mayor,Bertrand Delanoë, a socialist and the city's first openly gay leader, was stabbed during the first all-night, citywideNuit Blanche (literally, White Night) festival when the doors of the long-inaccessible building were thrown open to the public. But Delanoë recovered and did not lose his zeal for access, later converting the mayor's sumptuous private apartments into acrèche (day nursery) for the children of municipal workers.[21][22]
During the2024 Summer Olympics, themen's andwomen's marathons started at the Hôtel de Ville.[23]
The main façade, 143 metres (469 ft) long and 18.8 metres (62 ft) high (26.8 metres (88 ft) for the cornerpavilions and 50 metres (160 ft) for thebell tower), includes a central avant-corps corresponding to the old monument built during theRenaissance. It rises at its ends in two pavilions, each flanked by a squarecorbelled turret, through which two gates leading to the courtyards are pierced, closed bywrought iron gates, bearing thecoat of arms of the City of Paris.[24]
This central body and its two pavilions are enlarged on either side by a small wing set back six metres, ending with a corner pavilion. On the ground and first floors, eachbay features semi-circular and rectangular windows topped bymezzanines, framed bypilasters and columns.[24]
The next floor of the intermediate façade features an attic pierced with stonedormers that enclose a rectangular bay. The pavilion floor is different, with a central bay comprising a semicircular bay preceded by abalustraded balcony, and two side bays adorned with niches and statues. This floor is surmounted by aMansard roof crowned by an open gallery with cornerpedestals supporting flame vases.[24]
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The central ceremonial doors under the clock are flanked by allegorical figures ofArt, byLaurent Marqueste, andScience, byJules Blanchard. Some 230 other sculptors were commissioned to produce 338 individual figures of famous Parisians on each façade, along with lions and other sculptural features. The sculptors included prominent academicians likeErnest-Eugène Hiolle andHenri Chapu, but the most famous wasAuguste Rodin. Rodin produced the figure of the 18th-century mathematicianJean le Rond d'Alembert, finished in 1882.[25]
The statue on the garden wall on the south side is ofÉtienne Marcel, the most famous holder of the post ofprévôt des marchands (provost of the merchants) which predated the office of mayor. Marcel was lynched in 1358 by anangry mob after trying to assert the city's powers too energetically.[26]
The Salon d'entrée Nord included murals by Henri-Camille Danger.[27] There is also a painting entitledLes Saisons byPuvis de Chavannes.[28][29]
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The salle des fêtes (ballroom) was designed as a "republican" replica of theHall of Mirrors at thePalace of Versailles, built two centuries earlier. Thefrescoes on the arches represent sixteen historicalprovinces of France. They are the work of four painters: Jean-Joseph Weerts, François-Émile Ehrmann, Paul Milliet andFerdinand Humbert.[30]
The salle à manger d'honneur (formal dining room) features extensive use of carved oak.[31] It also includes a series of statues.[32]
The Salon des Arcades is in three separate parts: the Salon des Arts, Salon des Sciences and Salon des Lettres.[33]
The northern (left) side of the building is located on theRue de Rivoli. The nearbyBazar de l'Hôtel de Ville (BHV) is adepartment store named after the Hôtel de Ville. The closest church to the Hôtel de Ville is theSt-Gervais-et-St-Protais Church.[34]
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