Pictures and facts about City Hall of Paris France (french for Hotel de ville)

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Hôtel de Ville, Paris

The Hôtel de Ville houses the office of the Mayor of Paris.

The Hôtel de Ville (City hall) in Paris, France, is Paris city hall and is located in the place de l'Hôtel de Ville (formerly the place de Grève) in the City's IVe arrondissement. It serves multiple functions, housing the local administration, the Mayor of Paris (since 1977), and also being a venue for large receptions.

The original Hôtel de Ville, started in 1533 with funding by King Francis I, and completed in 1628 under Louis XIII, was designed by Dominique de Cortone and Pierre Chambiges. It was set on fire by some extremists during the Paris Commune of 1871, and burnt entirely.

The current building was designed by the architects Théodore Ballu and Pierre Deperthes, and replaced the earlier Hôtel de Ville on the same site. The rebuilt Hôtel de Ville is from the outside a perfect copy of the building that stood before 1871, using the stone shell that had survived the fire, while the inside was rebuilt in a new design, with ceremonial rooms lavishly decorated in the 1880s style.

The building has been the scene of a number of notable events, including the declaration of the French Third Republic, and a speech by Charles de Gaulle on the 1944 Liberation of Paris.

The nearby Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville (BHV) is a department store named after the Hôtel de Ville.