Hôtel de Ville, Reims

The Hôtel de Ville (French pronunciation: [otɛl də vil], City Hall) is the town hall in Reims, France. Previously housing a museum, the city archives, a savings bank, a library, the city police, a tribunal and the chamber of commerce, it now only houses municipal services.^{[citation needed]}

History

Previously meeting at different sites, the town council bought a building on the place du marché-aux-chevaux in 1499.^{[citation needed]} This building soon became too small but a new one could not be built for lack of funds until a 22,000 livre debt was repaid to the city by the duke of Guise.^{[citation needed]} Nicolas Lespagnol, the city inhabitants' lieutenant, laid the foundation stone on 18 June 1627 and the new building was constructed to designed by the architect Jean Bonhomme.^{[citation needed]} Its first wing on rue des Consuls (now called rue du général Sarrail) was completed quickly and the council began meeting there from 1628 onwards.^{[citation needed]} The façade was completed by Nicolas's brother Claude Lespagnol in 1636 and the building as a whole completed with the corner tower in 1823.^{[citation needed]}

Construction resumed in 1863 with the two last wings under the leadership of Narcisse Brunette and his brother Nicolas and they were completed in 1880. It was burned down on 3 March 1917 during the First World War and rebuilt post-war, with work commencing under Bernard Humbold (architecte en chef des monuments historiques) in 1924. The architects Roger-Henri Expert and Paul Bouchette contributed, along with the sculptor Paul Berton, born in Reims;^[1] president Gaston Doumergue reopened the building on 10 June 1928.^{[citation needed]}

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hôtel de ville de Reims.

49°15′29″N 4°01′54″E / 49.25801°N 4.03171°E / 49.25801; 4.03171

This page was last edited on 7 May 2024, at 00:35