Hotel de Ville, Paris

The Hôtel de Ville is the city hall of Paris and has been the seat of the city’s government since 1357. Despite its name, it is not a hotel: in French, hôtel originally meant a large town house, and hôtel de ville is simply the usual term for a town hall, also used in French-speaking Belgium, Switzerland and Canada.

The old Renaissance city hall was burned down during the Paris Commune in May 1871. The present building was rebuilt in 1874–1882 by Théodore Ballu and Édouard Deperthes in a neo-Renaissance style that echoes the lost original; its main façade is 143 metres long. It stands on the Right Bank of the Seine, roughly midway between Notre-Dame and the Louvre, facing the square that was called Place de Grève until 1803 and was notorious for public executions.

The façades are decorated with dozens of statues of famous Parisians from the arts, sciences and politics, among them Voltaire, the chemist Antoine Lavoisier and the writer Charles Perrault, set in niches across the front of the building.

Guided tours for individual visitors are suspended until further notice (2026), and free tours are offered only to groups on request. The easiest way to see the reception rooms, the council chamber and the mayor’s office is during the European Heritage Days in September, when entry is free with advance booking. Free exhibitions are also held inside from time to time.