Hôtel de Ville

The story of Hôtel de Ville

You’re standing at the city hall of Paris, the headquarters of the municipality since 1357. What makes it especially striking is that the building you see is a reconstruction: the outside was rebuilt following the original design, but larger, after the burning in May 1871, while the interior was considerably modified.

The story begins in July 1357, when Étienne Marcel, the provost of the merchants of Paris, bought the so-called maison aux piliers in the name of the municipality. That spot was on the place then known as Place de Grève, where the city administration had already been gathering, and Paris’s administration has stayed on this site ever since. Before that, the city was run from the parloir aux bourgeois near the Châtelet.

A later effort to give Paris a more impressive civic building came in 1533, when King Francis I decided the capital should have a city hall worthy of it. The south wing was constructed from 1535 to 1551, and the north wing followed between 1605 and 1628 under Henry IV and Louis XIII. The plans were made by Pierre de Chambiges and Dominique de Cortone, the Italian architect also known as Boccador. The wars of religion slowed the work, but the building was completed in 1628.

If you look at the façade, the present structure is the result of the 1874 to 1882 rebuilding. The main frontage is 143 metres long and 18.8 metres high, with the corner pavilions rising to 26.8 metres and the bell tower to 50 metres. The central ceremonial doors under the clock are flanked by allegorical figures of Art, by Laurent Marqueste, and Science, by Jules Blanchard. The façade also carries 338 individual figures of famous Parisians and other sculptural features, made by some 230 sculptors.

The building has not been just an office. From 1834, it became the seat of the Paris municipal council, and in 1835 two wings were added by Étienne-Hippolyte Godde and Jean-Baptiste Lesueur to provide more space for the expanded city government. Under the Second Empire it was used to display political power: in 1852 it was decorated with the colors of the Emperor and the imperial proclamation was made here, and in 1855 it hosted celebrations for the visit of Queen Victoria. The city also cleared access by razing nine streets to create the Avenue Victoria.

The most dramatic episode came in 1871. During the Semaine Sanglante, the Paris Commune burned the building along with all the city archives it contained. After that, the exterior was rebuilt in the original style but on a larger scale between 1874 and 1882. Théodore Ballu is named as architect for the building, and the result is Renaissance Revival in style.

Today it still serves the municipality of Paris, housing the local government council and, since 1977, the mayors of Paris and their cabinets. It is also used for large receptions. The building was designated a monument historique in 1975, and it is listed as a monument historique inscrit. There are also regular exhibitions and tours by appointment, so this is not only an office but a working civic building that the public can still enter.

If you want one thing to notice while you’re here, make it the contrast between the long ceremonial façade and the surviving civic function behind it: this is a place where Paris has kept its government in the same location for centuries, even after fire, reconstruction, and political upheaval.