The
Hôtel de Ville (
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
for "City Hall") in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, is the building housing the City of Paris's administration. Standing on the place de l'Hôtel de Ville (formerly the
place de GrèveThe public square in the 4th arrondissement of Paris that is now the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville was, before 1802, called the Place de Grève...
) in the city's
IVe arrondissementThe 4th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the Right Bank of the River Seine, it is bordered to the west by the 1st arrondissement; to the north by the 3rd, to the east by the 11th and 12th, and to the south by the Seine and the...
, it has been the location of the municipality of Paris since 1357. It serves multiple functions, housing the local administration, the Mayor of Paris (since 1977), and also being a venue for large receptions.
It is located near the
metroThe Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit system in Paris. It is a symbol of the city, notable for its station architecture, influenced by Art Nouveau. It has 16 lines, mostly underground, and a total length of 214 km . There are 300 stations...
station:
Hôtel de VilleHôtel de Ville is a station on lines 1 and 11 of the Paris Métro in the 4th arrondissement in central Paris.It is one of the eight original stations opened as part of the first stage of the line between Porte de Vincennes and Porte Maillot on 19 July 1900. The line 11 platforms opened as part of...
.
History
In July 1357,
Étienne MarcelÉtienne Marcel was provost of the merchants of Paris under King John II.Étienne Marcel belonged by birth to the wealthy Parisian bourgeoisie, being the son of a clothier named Simon Marcel and of Isabelle Barbou...
,
provost of the merchantsA provost is the ceremonial head of many Scottish local authorities, and under the name prévôt was a governmental position of varying importance in Ancien Regime France.-History:...
(i.e. mayor) of Paris, bought the so-called
maison 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, the
Place de GrèveThe public square in the 4th arrondissement of Paris that is now the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville was, before 1802, called the Place de Grève...
(French for "Square of the Strand"), 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-called
parloir aux bourgeois ("Parlour of Burgesses") near the
ChâteletIn antiquity, a châtelet was a little castle or fortress, wherein the chatelain , or governor lodged.Now, the term may refer to:* Châtelet, a city in Belgium...
.
In 1533, King
Francis IFrancis I , was king of France from 1515 until his death.Francis I is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch. His reign saw France make immense cultural advances...
decided to endow the city with a city hall which would be worthy of Paris, then the largest city of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and
ChristendomChristendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity. This community numbers in the billions of people of the world population. This community is spread across many different nations and ethnic...
. He appointed two architects: Italian Dominique de Cortone, nicknamed Boccador because of his red beard, and Frenchman Pierre Chambiges. The House of Pillars was torn down and Boccador, steeped in the spirit of the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
, 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 of Louis XIII.
During the next two centuries, no changes were made to the edifice which was the stage for several famous events during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
(notably the murder of the last provost of the merchants
Jacques de FlessellesJacques de Flesselles was a French public servant and one of the first victims of the French Revolution.On 21 April 1789, after serving as Intendant of Lyon , he became the last provost of the merchants of Paris, a post roughly equivalent to mayor...
by an angry crowd on 14 July 1789 and the coup of
9 Thermidor Year IIThe Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to execute Robespierre, Saint-Just and several other leading members of the Terror...
when
RobespierreMaximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution...
was shot in the jaw and arrested in the Hôtel de Ville with his followers). Eventually, in 1835, on the initiative of Rambuteau,
préfetA prefect in France is the State's representative in a department or region. Sub-prefects are responsible for the subdivisions of departments, arrondissements...
of the
SeineSeine was a département of France encompassing Paris and its immediate suburbs. Its préfecture was Paris and its official number was 75. The Seine département was abolished in 1968 and its territory divided among four new départements....
département, two wings were added to the main building and were linked to the facade by a gallery, to provide more space for the expanded city government.
During the
Franco-Prussian WarThe Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between France and Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria...
, the building played a key role in several political events. On 30 October 1870, revolutionaries broke into the building and captured the Government of National Defence, while making repeated demands for the establishment of a communard government. The existing government was rescued by soldiers who broke into the Hôtel de Ville via an underground tunnel built in 1807, which still connects the Hôtel de Ville with a nearby barracks. On 18 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. The
Paris CommuneThe Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris, from March 28 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and socialists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class...
chose the Hôtel de Ville as its headquarters, and as anti-Commune troops approached the building, Commune extremists set fire to the Hôtel de Ville destroying almost all extant public records from the French Revolutionary period. The blaze gutted the building, leaving only a stone shell.
Reconstruction
Reconstruction of the hall lasted from 1873 through 1892. The reconstruction of the building was directed by
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
s
Théodore BalluThéodore Ballu was a French architect.He entered the École royale des beaux-arts de Paris in 1835 and was the pupil of Louis-Hippolyte Lebas....
and
Édouard DeperthesPierre Joseph Édouard Deperthes was an French architect.-Early life :Deperthes was born in Houdilcourt, a commune in the Ardennes in July 1833. He was the son of two farmers.-Education:...
following an architectural contest. Ballu also built the Church of La Trinité in the
IXe arrondissementThe 9
th arrondissement , located on the Right Bank, is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, France. It contains many places of cultural, historical, and architectural interest, including the Palais Garnier, home to the Paris Opera, Boulevard Haussmann and its large department stores...
and the belfry of the town hall of the
Ier arrondissementThe 1st arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated principally on the right bank of the River Seine, it also includes the west end of the Île de la Cité...
, opposite the
LouvreThe Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre — in English, the Louvre Museum or Great Louvre, or simply the Louvre — is the largest national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the...
's east facade. He also restored the
Saint-Jacques TowerSaint-Jacques Tower, the Tour Saint-Jacques, is a monument located in the IVe arrondissement of Paris, France. This 52-m Flamboyant Gothic tower is all that remains of the former church of Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie ....
, a Gothic church tower in a square 150 metres to the west of the Hôtel de Ville.
The architects rebuilt the interior of the Hôtel de Ville within the stone shell that had survived the fire. While the rebuilt Hôtel de Ville is, from the outside, a copy of the 16th century
French RenaissanceFrench Renaissance is a recent term used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in France from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century...
building that stood before 1871, the new interior was based on an entirely new design, with ceremonial rooms lavishly decorated in the 1880s style.
The central ceremonial doors under the clock are flanked by allegorical figures of
Art, by
Laurent MarquesteLaurent-Honoré Marqueste was a French sculptor in the neo-Baroque Beaux-Arts tradition. He was a pupil of François Jouffroy and of Alexandre Falguière and won the Prix de Rome in 1871. On his return he made his official debut at the Paris salon of 1874 . In 1893 he became a professor at the École...
, and
Science, by
Jules BlanchardJules Blanchard was a French sculptor.Blanchard was born in Puiseaux, and was a student of François Jouffroy. Blanchard is perhaps best known for his renovation of the Fontaine du Palmier in the Place du Châtelet, Paris....
. Some 230 other sculptors were commissioned to produce 338 individual figures of famous Parisians on each facade, along with lions and other sculptural features. The sculptors included prominent academicians like
Ernest-Eugène HiolleErnest-Eugène Hiolle was a French sculptor who specialized in classical and allegorical figures in plaster and bronze, as well as many contemporary portrait busts....
and
Henri ChapuHenri-Michel-Antoine Chapu was a French sculptor in a modified Neoclassical tradition who was known for his use of allegory in his works.-Life and career:...
, but easily the most famous was
Auguste RodinAuguste Rodin[p] was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
. Rodin produced the figure of the 18th Century mathematician
Jean le Rond d'AlembertJean le Rond d'Alembert was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist and philosopher. He was also co-editor with Denis Diderot of the Encyclopédie...
, finished in 1882.
The statue on the garden wall on the south side is of
Étienne MarcelÉtienne Marcel was provost of the merchants of Paris under King John II.Étienne Marcel belonged by birth to the wealthy Parisian bourgeoisie, being the son of a clothier named Simon Marcel and of Isabelle Barbou...
, the most famous holder of the post of
prévôt des marchandsA provost is the ceremonial head of many Scottish local authorities, and under the name prévôt was a governmental position of varying importance in Ancien Regime France.-History:...
(provost of merchants) which predated the office of mayor. Marcel came to a sticky end, lynched in 1358 by an angry mob after trying to assert the city's powers a little too energetically.
The decor featured murals by the leading painters of the day, including
Raphaël CollinRaphaël Collin was born and raised in Paris, where he became a prominent academic painter and in later life a professor at the Académie des Beaux-Arts...
,
Jean-Paul LaurensJean-Paul Laurens , was a French painter and sculptor, and one of the last major exponents of the French Academic style.Born in Fourquevaux, he was a pupil of Léon Cogniet and Alexandre Bida...
, Puvis de Chavannes,
Henri GervexHenri Gervex was a French painter born in Paris, and studied painting under Cabanel, Brisset and Fromentin.His early work belonged almost exclusively to the mythological genre, which served as an excuse for the painting of the nude, but not always in the best of taste...
, Aimé Morot and Alfred Roll. Most can still be seen as part of a guided tour of the building.
Political Venue
Since the French Revolution, the building has been the scene of a number of historical events, notably the proclamation of the
French Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France between the end of the Second French Empire in 1870 and the Vichy Regime after the invasion of France by the German...
in 1870 and the famous speech by
Charles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II...
on 25 August 1944 during the
Liberation of ParisThe Liberation of Paris took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the surrender of the occupying German garrison on the 25th and is accounted as the last battle in the Campaign for Normandy and the transitional conclusion of the Allied invasion breakout in Operation Overlord into a...
when he greeted the crowd from a front window.
The Hôtel de Ville was for many years the fief of
Jacques ChiracJacques René Chirac served as the President of France from 17 May 1995 until 16 May 2007. As President he also served as an ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra and Grand Master of the French Légion d'honneur. Chirac was the second-longest serving President of France , behind François Mitterrand...
, France's president from 1995 until May 2007, and was the site of a scandal centering on both illegal jobs given to Chirac's party members and an extravagant entertainment budget.
The current mayor,
Bertrand DelanoëBertrand Delanoë is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is from the Socialist Party . He is considered to be a potential candidate for President of the French Republic in 2012....
, a socialist and the city's first openly gay leader, shares some of Marcel's ambition and almost shared his fate. He was stabbed in the building in 2002 during the first all-night, city-wide Sleepless Night (
Nuit Blanche) festival when the long inaccessible building's doors were thrown open to the public. But Delanoë recovered and has not lost his zeal for access, later converting the mayor' sumptuous private apartments into a
crèche (day nursery) for the children of municipal workers.
Nearby places
The northern (left) side of the building is located on the Rue de Rivoli. The nearby
Bazar de l'Hôtel de VilleThe Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville or BHV is a department store on rue de Rivoli in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, facing the Hôtel de Ville. It is part of the Groupe Galeries Lafayette and served by the Metro station Hôtel de Ville. It has also opened several other shops in France and one in Beirut....
(BHV) is a
department storeA department store is a retail establishment which specializes in satisfying a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
named after the Hôtel de Ville. The closest church of Hôtel de Ville is the
St-Gervais-et-St-Protais ChurchThe St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Church of Paris sheltered one of the most famous dynasties of French musicians, the Couperin family, for more than two centuries, beginning in 1653....
.
External links