The (, ''

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

'') is a municipal building in

Ivry-sur-Seine Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the ...

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a ...

, in the southern suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, standing on Esplanade Georges Marrane. It has been included on the '' Inventaire général des monuments'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

since 1994.

History

Following the French Revolution, the new council initially held its meetings in the house of the mayor of the day. However, in the mid-19th century, it decided to acquire a dedicated municipal building: the property it selected was a private house on Rue de Seine (now Avenue Georges Gosnat). The house was designed by

Jacques Hardouin-Mansart de Sagonne Jacques Hardouin-Mansart de Sagonne (26 July 1711, Paris - 27 September 1778, Paris) was a French architect. He was the illegitimate son of Jacques Hardouin-Mansart, comte de Sagonne, by his mistress Madeleine Duguesny - Jacques and Madeleine marr ...

and was completed in 1739. It accommodated a school established by the educator, Pierre-Philibert Pompée, from 1853. In August 1870, in the context of the threat of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, the council relocated to the relative safety of a property in central Paris but, after the threat had subsided in 1871, the council acquired the house on Rue de Seine. In the late 19th century, the council decided to commission a more substantial town hall on the same site, just to the southeast of the original building, which was later demolished. The foundation stone was laid by the Secretary-General of the Seine Prefecture, Léon Bruman, on 3 February 1895. It was designed by Chancel Adrien in the

Louis XIV style The Louis XIV style or ''Louis Quatorze'' ( , ), also called French classicism, was the style of architecture and decorative arts intended to glorify King Louis XIV and his reign. It featured majesty, harmony and regularity. It became the official ...

, built in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

stone and was officially opened by the mayor, Émile-Louis Bruyer, on 19 April 1896. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Rue de Seine. The central three bays featured round headed openings containing doorways with iron grills,

voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...

s and

keystones A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...

. The outer bays contained pairs of

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...

s, stacked one on top of the other, while the first floor was fenestrated with five tall casement windows with

balustrades A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its c ...

, moulded surrounds and keystones. The bays on the ground floor were flanked by banded

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

columns supporting

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

s and

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

s, while the bays on the first floor were flanked by fluted

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

columns supporting entablatures and

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...

ed cornices. The bays on the first floor were flanked by six niches containing statues reflecting local industries: they were sculpted by

Léon Fagel Léon Fagel (1851–1913) was a French sculptor, best known for his busts. Fagel was born in Valenciennes, won the second Prix de Rome in 1875, and the Prix de Rome in 1879. He exhibited busts of Chevreul, J. Cavelier, and Le Greffeur at the Exp ...

, Adolphe Geoffroy, Jean Hugues and

Camille Lefèvre Camille Lefèvre (1853–1933) was a French sculptor and architect. Biography Born in Issy-les-Moulineaux, in 1870 Lefèvre became a pupil of Jules Cavelier at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1877 and 1878, he ...

. Above the central bay, there was a clock flanked by

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s supporting a pediment while, above the other bays, there were heraldic shields flanked by pilasters supporting pediments. Internally, the principal rooms were the Salle des Mariages (wedding room) and the Salle du Conseil (council chamber). During the Paris insurrection on 19 August 1944, part of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the town hall was seized by the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

. This was just a week before the liberation of the town by the French 2nd Armoured Division, commanded by General

Philippe Leclerc Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque (22 November 1902 – 28 November 1947) was a Free-French general during World War II. He became Marshal of France posthumously in 1952, and is known in France simply as or just Leclerc. ...

, on 25 August 1944. Works of art in the town hall include three frescoes painted on plywood by

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

in the early 1950s. They illustrate the poem, Liberté, written by

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

during the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1896 City and town halls in France 1896 establishments in France