The hôtel du Châtelet is a ''

hôtel particulier An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side an ...

'', a kind of large

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

of France, at 127, rue de Grenelle, in the 7th arrondissement, Paris. The building is now the home of the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

and the minister’s official residence.

History

Hôtel du Châtelet was commissioned from

Mathurin Cherpitel Mathurin Cherpitel (14 December 1736, Paris – 13 November 1809, Paris) was a French architect, whose notable buildings include the Hôtel du Châtelet. Biography Mathurin Cherpitel was the son of a master carpenter who helped to build the Rue ...

in 1770 by the Duke of Châtelet, and completed in 1776. After the duke was

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

d in 1793, the house was inscribed on the list of civil buildings, and it served from 1796 to 1807 as the headquarters of the

École nationale des ponts et chaussées École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. From 1807 to 1830, it was attached to the Imperial, and later Royal, Household. Between 1830 and 1849, it served as the Turkish embassy, and then the Austrian embassy. In 1849,

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

's government paid for renovations and gave the building to the

Archbishop of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Parisiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Paris'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France ...

whose palace had burned down in 1831. From 1849 to 1905, the building's main body served as the archiepiscopal residence. Upon the

1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and State ( French: ) was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on 9 December 1905. Enacted during the Third Republic, it established state secularism in France. France was then governed by the '' ...

, the state took the building back, granting it in 1907 to what was then called the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. Following restoration in 1908, it became the headquarters of the ministry. In 1968, it was the site of the signature of the

Grenelle agreements The Grenelle Agreements (french: Accords de Grenelle) or Grenelle Reports were negotiated 25 and 26 May, during the crisis of May 1968 in France by the representative of the Pompidou government, the trade unions, and the . Among the negotiators ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel Du Chatelet Buildings and structures in the 7th arrondissement of Paris Châtelet Houses completed in 1776