Paris - Hôtel de Ville - 4me

Plate XXXVIII – Hotel de Ville…

It’s a Hotel, but you can’t stay here. 

For the visitor unfamiliar with the French language the titles that the French give to their buildings can be a little confusing. Often what the English call a Hall the French call a hôtel. But they also call a hotel a hôtel. You ought to understand that!!  So don’t try to reserve a room at the Hôtels de Ville or des Invalides (or several others) for you will not be welcome overnight. At many other hours of the day however you will be – and you should go.

The Hôtel de Ville in Paris is the City Hall. Housing the office of the mayor, it is the administrative centre of the city. It stands on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, formerly known as the Place de Grève. There was at one time in the area a Seine river port at this location, and the original building here known as the House of Pillars (Maison aux Piliers) was bought in 1357 by Étienne Marcel, the mayor (known at the time as the provost of the merchants and lynched by a mob outside the hall in 1358). The original City Hall replaced this house during the reign of Louis XIII in 1628, although its planning started in the middle 1500’s under Francis I. The site of many Revolutionary events the Hôtel de Ville (along with all its public records) was destroyed in a fire by extremists during the Paris Commune in 1871.

The rebuilding of the Hôtel was to last from 1873 to 1892; the new interior being a completely new design, although the exterior (built within the remaining shell of the old building) is a close copy of the 16th century original. Murals, paintings and sculptures decorate the façade and interiors, featuring many famous Parisians, and executed (a good word choice - for many public executions took place outside the Hotel) by leading artists and sculptors of the day. Statues of Art and Science by Jules Blanchard flank the main entrance.