University of Virginia Library

11. Hôtel de Ville.

Rue de Rivoli.

The *Hôtel de Ville or town-hall of Paris is only accessible
by special permission from the Prefect of the Seine, to whom a
written request[2] furnished with a stamp of 10 c., should be
transmitted by post. The applicant will then probably receive
the permission within two or three days; if not, he should apply
for it at the office of the prefect.

Admission may, however, frequently by obtained by simply
applying to the attendant at the usual hours (Thursdays 12 to
4 o'clock), or by joining another party furnished with a formal
permission.

The construction of this magnificent edifice was commenced
in 1533, but was suspended until the reign of Henry IV., when
it was completed by the Italian architect Domenico di Cortona in
1628. The style is that of the Renaissance: the columns are
chiefly of the Corinthian order.

As the original structure afforded too limited accommodation
for the principal civic dignitary of Paris ("Préfet de la Seine";
previously to 1789, "Prévôt des Marchands") and his staff of
officials, it received such extensive additions in 1837—41, that
dimensions are now four times greater than before. Notwithstanding
its vast size, it was again deemed necessary in 1857
to make further provision for the offices of the Préfecture by
erecting two buildings opposite to the principal façade, on the
other side of the palace.

The edifice, which is in the form of a rectangle, 300 ft. long,
250 ft. broad, and furnished with three courts, stands in an open
situation. The niches contain statues of celebrated Parisians of all
ages, down to Bailly, mayor of Paris on the outbreak of the
first revolution, and Lafayette, commandant of the National Guard
in 1830. Over the principal entrance is placed an equestrian
figure of Henry IV. in relief.

The court which is first entered is adorned with a bronze
statue of Louis XIV., attired as a Roman and wearing a wig, by
Coyzevox. Marble tablets on the sides of the court bear inscriptions
in commemoration of the achievements of the great monarch.

The reception and ball-rooms on the first floor have been
fitted up in a style so gorgeous as entirely to eclipse the splendour
of the most sumptuous imperial palaces, and well merit a
visit. The ceilings of several of the apartments have been painted
by the eminent artists Ingres, Delacroix, Lehmann, etc. The splendour-loving
metropolis has in fact done its utmost to enable its
chief dignitary, the Préfet de la Seine, to perform his functions
with becoming magnificence.

During the winter the prefect usually gives a ball once a
fortnight, an invitation to one of which is not very difficult of
attainment, especially if the stranger be acquainted with the ambassador
of his country. The kitchens of the souterrain are so
extensive that a repast for 1000 persons can without difficulty
be prepared, at was the case on July 14th, 1856, when the emperor
and empress were entertained on the occasion of the baptism
of the imperial prince.

The private apartments of the prefect are situated in the
entresol, towards the river. The different offices in the Hôtel
de Ville are occupied by upwards of 500 officials. The prefect
is the superior officer of the twenty maires of Paris, each of whom
presides over one of the twenty arrondissements, and of the two
souspréfets of St. Denis and Sceaux, which together with the city
itself constitute the Department of the Seine.

The Hôtel de Ville has played a conspicuous part in the
different revolutions, having been the usual rallying place for the
democratic party. On July 14th, 1789, the conquerors of the
Bastille were conducted in triumph into the great hall. Three
days later Louis XVI. was conveyed to the same apartment from
Versailles, accompanied by dense masses of the populace, whose
excitement was somewhat allayed when the king presented himself
at the window with a tri-coloured cockade with which he was
furnished by the maire Bailly. Here the Commune, the tool employed
by Robespierre against the Convention, was holding one
of its meetings, July 27th, 1794 (9th Thermidor), when Barras
with five batallions effected his entrance by force in the name of
the Convention, and Robespierre, to escape apprehension, attempted
to destroy himself, but only succeeded in shattering his jaw. Here
too was celebrated the union of the July kingdom with the bourgeoisie,
when Louis Philippe presented himself at one of the
windows about the beginning of August, 1830, and in view of
the populace was embraced by Lafayette. From the steps of the
Hôtel de Ville, Feb. 24th, 1848, Louis Blanc proclaimed the
establishment of the republic.

Although the present emperor has not been directly concerned
in the embellishment of the Hôtel de Ville, he has materially
contributed to the improvement of its external appearance by
causing the entire removal of the numerous and squalid lanes

and alleys by which it was formerly surrounded, and which have
been so well depicted by the masterly pen of Eugène Sue. The
demolition of these unwholesome purlieus has made way for the
continuation of the broad and handsome Rue de Rivoli, the construction
of which between the Place du Palais Royal and the
Place de l'Hôtel de Ville alone necessitated the removal of upwards
of 300 houses. Another improvement of the present régime
was the erection in 1854 of the extensive Caserne Napoléon,
capable of accommodating 2500 men, situated in the rear of the
Hôtel de Ville and connected with it by means of subterranean
passages. Adjacent to it, on the quay, is situated a second commodious
barrack for cavalry and artillery, erected in 1857. These
significant facts appear to preclude the possibility of a repetition
of the scenes of which the Hôtel de Ville has so frequently been
the witness.

In the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, formerly termed Place de
Grève (i. e. of the bank of the river), many a dark tragedy has
also been enacted. During a long series of years the stake and
the scaffold here exercised their dismal sway. In 1572, after the
massacre of St. Bartholomew, Catharine de Medicis here doomed
the Huguenot chiefs Briquemont and Cavagnes to perish ignominiously
by the gallows; in 1574 she ordered the Comte Montgomery,
captain of the Scottish guard, to be tortured and executed for
having at a tournament accidentally caused the death of her husband
Henri II. From that period until July, 1789, the Place de
Grève witnessed the execution of numerous victims of a despotic
government, as well as criminals. Here, too, after the capture
of the Bastille by the populace, Foulon, general controller of the
finances and his son-in-law Bertier were hanged on lamp-posts,
the first victims of the revolution.

The Guillotine, an instrument for the decapitation of criminals
recommended by the physician Guillotin to the Convention, was
first employed in the Place de Grève, whence it was soon removed
to the Place de la Concorde (p. 80). From 1795 till
after the July revolution the Place again became the usual place
of execution; during that period, however, these forbidding scenes
were rarely enacted.

In the Boulevard de Sébastopol, in the vicinity, is situated
the Tour St. Jacques, mentioned at p. 43, and the Place du Châtelet
with the two theatres.