The Hôtel de Ville (French pronunciation: [otɛl də vil], City Hall) is a historic building in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, northern France, standing on Place du Général de Gaulle. The garden façade and roofs were designated a monument historique by the French government in 1948.[1]
| Hôtel de Ville | |
|---|---|
 Main frontage of the Hôtel de Ville in October 2010 | |
| General information | |
| Type | City hall |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical style |
| Location | Rouen, France |
| Completed | 1825 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Jean-Pierre Defrance, Jean-Baptiste Le Brument and Charles-Felix Maillet du Boullay |
History
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The city council initially held its meetings in the Halle aux Marchands, close to the Église Saint-Éloi, in the mid-12th century. It then met in a building on Rue du Gros-Horloge, previously belonging to Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, which was granted to them by Philip II in 1220.[2] After the second Hôtel de Ville became dilapidated, a third Hôtel de Ville was erected on Rue du Gros-Horloge to a design by Jacques Gabriel in the Renaissance style in 1607.[3] After nearly two centuries of use, the third Hôtel de Ville became inadequate and was sold for commercial use in 1796.[4][5] In the late 18th century, the city council was briefly accommodated in the Hôtel de la Première Présidence on Rue Saint-Lô, which had been designed by Jean-Jacques Martinet and completed in 1721.[6]
The current building was commissioned as a dormitory for the monks of Saint-Ouen Abbey on a site to the immediate north of the abbey. It was designed by Jean-Pierre Defrance and Jean-Baptiste Le Brument in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in the mid-18th century. However, it became vacant in 1790 and the city council decided to acquire the former abbey dormitory and moved into the building in May 1800. A programme of works to convert the former dormitory into a municipal building was carried out to a design by Charles-Felix Maillet du Boullay and was completed in 1825.[7]
The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of 19 bays facing onto a new square, with the end sections of the three bays each projected forward as pavilions. The ground floor was rusticated and arcaded with a series of round headed openings. The central section of three bays, which was also projected forward, featured a tetrastyle portico on the first floor: it was formed by Corinthian order columns supporting an entablature and a modillioned pediment, with a coat of arms in the tympanum. The building was fenestrated by casement windows with moulded surrounds and cornices and, at roof level, there was a balustraded parapet. Internally, although the principal room was the council chamber,[8] there was a public library on the first floor[9] and a museum on the second floor.[10]
An equestrian statue of Napoleon by the sculptor, Gabriel-Vital Dubray, was unveiled in front of the building by the industrialist, Henri Barbet, on 15 August 1865.[11][12] The building was badly damaged in a fire on the night of 30 December 1926 and, although the paintings and statues were saved, the municipal archives were destroyed.[13] The building was subsequently restored to a design by Edmond Lair.[14]
On 19 April 1944, during the Second World War, the building was damaged by American aerial bombing.[15] Following the liberation of France, the flag of France was hoist on the building by local residents in August 1944.[16]
References
edit- ^ Base Mérimée: PA00100851, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Cook 1899, p. 110.
- ^ Liquet 1862, p. 84.
- ^ Cook 1899, p. 145.
- ^ Base Mérimée: PA00100850, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Base Mérimée: IA00021815, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ "Rouen City Hall". Film France. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Liquet 1862, p. 82.
- ^ Liquet 1862, p. 136.
- ^ Liquet 1862, p. 138.
- ^ Lentz, Thierry (27 September 2021). "Statue of Napoleon in Rouen: "it is a question of respecting our history"". Le Figero. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Massin, Fabien (23 June 2021). "Rouen. Statue de Napoléon en restauration : un petit trésor découvert à l'intérieur !" [Rouen. Statue of Napoleon in restoration: a small treasure discovered inside!] (in French). Actu.fr. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Pessiot, Guy (2004). Histoire de Rouen: Tome 2, 1900–1939 en 800 photographies. La Falaises. p. 101. ISBN 978-2906258860.
- ^ Commemorative plaque inside the building.
- ^ "Il y a 70 ans, Rouen était sous les bombes". Actu. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Pailhès, Gontran (1949). Rouen et sa région pendant la guerre 1939–1945. Rouen: Henri Defontaine. p. 255.
Sources
edit- Cook, Theodore Andrea (1899). The Story of Rouen. J. M. Dent & Co.
- Liquet, François-Isidore (1862). Rouen, son histoire, ses monuments etc. A. Lebrument.