Hotel de Ville - City Hall of Paris Reviews (Paris, France)

The city hall of Paris

Moscow, Moskva, Russia

March 12, 2011

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Area of the Hotel de Ville, where the city hall of Paris, until 1830 called Grevskoy. In the XII century merchant guild of merchants built on the sandy water right bank of the Seine, where it was convenient to unload the goods, the port, which ...Read more Area of the Hotel de Ville, where the city hall of Paris, until 1830 called Grevskoy. In the XII century merchant guild of merchants built on the sandy water right bank of the Seine, where it was convenient to unload the goods, the port, which soon also became known as Grevskim (Fr. greve - sandy beach). Formed corporation river traders, who won in 1170 the monopoly of trade on the River. This davalo them greater power, as trade was conducted largely in this way. Prior to the XIII century. Paris ruled by royal governors. In 1260 St Louis gave part of municipal government representatives guild merchants and navigators, who by that time the most venerated of the city corporations. Municipality led by the head of the merchants and four elders. They adopted a seal with the vessel, which became the emblem of the city. During the century meetings were held at the Chatelet Square. At Grevskuyu area it moved into in 1357, Etienne Marcel, head of the guild of merchants, building merchants for the council elders (provost of merchants), an office building - "House on legs." Title attributed to the fact that the first floor of the building drawn up an arcade. Now at the southern facade of the modern City Hall, on the terrace overlooking the quay quai Hôtel de Ville, is equestrian monument Etienne Marcel.

From 1310 to 1830 on Grevskoy area were public executions. Terrible spectacle was so popular that people were paying huge money for the lease of the windows and seats on the roofs of neighboring houses.

From the balcony of this building (now Paris City Hall), Lafayette and Orleans (the future King Louis-Philippe of France) proclaimed the July Monarchy. In 1835, the Hotel de Ville slightly expanded and restructured under the guidance of the architects of the Year and Lyussyuera. Thirteen years (February 26, 1848) in the municipality of the poet Lamartine proclaimed the Second Republic, and Gambeta September 4, 1870 - the third.

During construction in 1874-82 years. New Hotel de Ville, architects and restorers Depert, Balla tried to keep the old facade.
Since then, the Hotel de Ville decorate 136 sculptures, among which are the embodiment of thirty cities in France and the figures of famous Parisians (Moliere, Voltaire, Lavoisier, Zh.de Steel, etc.).

Inside City Hall is richly decorated with gold leaf, wood and chandeliers Baccarat. Paintings of the interior the Hotel de Ville Puvis de Chavannes performed.

Since 1982 the area was reconstructed, and it became a pedestrian zone. In winter (October to March) on her skating-rink (skate rental 5 euros) and mark out in the summer of beach volleyball or organize exhibitions of landscape design. Here is a nice walk, especially at night when illuminated fountains, created by sculptor and designer, François Xavier Lalanne. Close

From journal The most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Hôtel de Ville

by paolo1899

Naples, Italy

November 1, 2007

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Best of IgoUgo The Hotel de Ville is situated in the 4e arrondissement, near the Seine River. It is not far from the Centre Pompidou and the Notre-Dame across the pont d'Arcole. The building is decorated with 108 statues, representing famous Parisians. 30 Other ...Read more The Hotel de Ville is situated in the 4e arrondissement, near the Seine River. It is not far from the Centre Pompidou and the Notre-Dame across the pont d'Arcole. The building is decorated with 108 statues, representing famous Parisians. 30 Other statues represent French cities. The clock at the central tower is adorned with several feminine sculptures representing the Seine River,The city of Paris, 'Work' and 'Education'. The interior of the city hall is decorated in a pompous IIIe Empire style. Noteworthy are the large staircase, the long Salle des Fetes (ballroom), the painted ceilings and walls, the stained glass windows and the numerous chandeliers. From 1310 on, the Place de Greve was the square were most of the executions in Paris took place. Here people were beheaded, quartered, cooked up or burned at the stake. In 1792, a guillotine was installed. It would prove itself useful during the French Revolution. The last execution took place in 1830, after which the square was renamed Place de l'Hotel de Ville. It was enlarged by Haussmann to its current size. In 1982 the large square became a pedestrian zone.
In 1246 the first municipality was created when the Parisian trade guilds elected aldermen as representatives towards the King. There was no municipal building until 1357 when one of the Aldermen, a water merchant, bought a house near the place de Greve. The two-storied building featured two towers and arcades. Known as the House of Pillars, it served as the predecessor of the city hall.
A new Hotel de Ville in Renaissance style was built between 1553 and 1628. It was enlarged in 1803 and again in 1837. A revolting Commune which had occupied the Hotel de Ville for months set the building on fire in May 1771, destroying the valuable city archives. Shortly after the Commune was defeated by royalist forces, the city government held a competition for a new city hall. The architects Theodore Ballu and Edouard Deperthes won this competition with their proposition to reconstruct the Hotel de Ville in its original style. Funded by a national subscription the construction started in 1873. Nine years later, the new Hotel de Ville was officially inaugurated.

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From journal Hotel de Ville

Place de Greve and Hotel de Ville

by kjlouden

, West Virginia

August 18, 2004

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Best of IgoUgo Paris begins to look inward. By the 11th century, Paris had outgrown Ile de la Cite, the Seine was still wider, and the present site was the chief mercantile center for river traders. Place de Greve, the medieval name for the square, was also ...Read more
Paris begins to look inward.
By the 11th century, Paris had outgrown Ile de la Cite, the Seine was still wider, and the present site was the chief mercantile center for river traders. Place de Greve, the medieval name for the square, was also the spot where striking tradesmen gathered to air their gripes--and even in ancient times, Paris had plenty of trades, from cathedral-builders to cobblers. The square was also where public executions and torture were staged for the "benefit" of the griping or market-going public.

Creative execution
Torture took many forms. Dissenting folk were boiled alive, strangled, burned, beheaded or "quartered" (pulled apart by 4 horses, one tied to each limb). Leonora Galigai, favorite of Marie de Medici (Queen of France after Henry IV’s death) was beheaded and burned here for sorcery (or, more accurately, for having too much influence). Anne Dubourg (a man) was burned alive for pleading for more humanitarian treatment of heretics under Henry II, and Captain Montgomery met a similar fate. The most famous scene witnessed here must have been the torture and quartering in 1610 of Francois Ravaillac, who stabbed Henry IV because he believed that the good King would turn the country Protestant. I imagine a huge bloodthirsty public showed up for that event! What drama! (I really must review our own history.)

The class struggle lasted a long time!
Shopping, griping, and torture--all combined to establish Place de Greve as the main staging arena, the "message board" for communication between government and citizenry--or aristocracy and common folk, if you want to look at it as a class thing. The more I read, the more I am convinced that no other square in Paris saw so much of the drama of political or class struggle. This fact alone makes it worth a visit. For our Saturday there, it was bare, easy to view as a stage. Descriptions make much of the lampposts, a long row of them, and even they are off to the side, but decorated with sculpture.

Hotel de Ville
The building didn’t always look this impressive.

In 1871 after Thiers’ army and the Paris Commune were finished with it, it looked like this. If you want to learn more about the bloodbath that occurred here that year that set back the labor movement in France for many decades, see this story. The Communards occupied this seat of government long enough to make major changes, which I imagine led to some compromises after they were massacred. For one, they didn't want notaries to inherit their positions.

Exhibit space
Inside, an exhibit (that has been there for some time) concerns the notaries of Paris and the Notary Acts. This is complicated reading for one with limited French, so we deciphered little. We found no literature in English, but we didn’t ask.

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From journal All For The Love Of A River

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