The five-story Montreal City Hall (French: ''Hôtel de Ville de Montréal'') is the

seat of local government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It was designed by architects Henri-Maurice Perrault and Alexander Cowper Hutchison, and built between 1872 and 1878 in the

Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...

. It is located in

Old Montreal Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...

, between

Place Jacques-Cartier Place Jacques-Cartier (English: Jacques Cartier square) is a square located in Old Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an entrance to the Old Port of Montreal. Overview In 1723, the Château Vaudreuil was built for Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Va ...

and the

Champ de Mars The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the ...

, at 275

Notre-Dame Street Notre-Dame Street (officially in french: Rue Notre-Dame) is a historic east-west street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It runs parallel to the Saint Lawrence River, from Lachine to the eastern tip of the island in Pointe-aux-Trembles, ...

East. The closest

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

station is

Champ-de-Mars The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the ...

, on the Orange Line. As one of the best examples of the

in Canada, and the first

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

to have been constructed in the country solely for municipal administration, it was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...

in 1984.

History and architecture

Incendie Hotel de Ville Montreal 3 mars 1922

Construction on the building began in 1872 and was completed in 1878. The original building was gutted by fire in March 1922, leaving only the outer wall and destroying many of the city's historic records.Rémillard, 80. The architect Louis Parant was commissioned for the reconstruction, who decided to build an entirely new building with a self-supporting steel structure built inside the shell of the ruins. This new building was modelled after the city hall of the French city of

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

.City of Montreal Web site (in French)
/ref> Other changes included a remodelling of the

Mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

into a new Beaux-Arts inspired model, with a copper roof instead of the original slate tiles. The new building opened on February 15, 1926. In 1967

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

, the president of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, gave his

Vive le Québec libre speech Vive may refer to: * Vive, Viva, a Romance language expression * ''Vive'' (José José album), 1974 * ''Vive'' (Lucía Méndez album), 2004 *Vive (a cappella group), a cappella group from England, United Kingdom *ViVe Televisión, a state-owned Ve ...

from the building's balcony.

References

External links

* Rémillard, Francois. ''Montreal architecture: A Guide to Styles and Buildings.'' Montreal: Meridian Press, 1990.
Montreal City Hall—Hôtel de ville de MontréalPhotograph:Montreal City Hall, 1875
- McCord Museum
Photograph:Montreal City Hall, about 1878
- McCord Museum
Photograph:Montreal City Hall, 1896
- McCord Museum
Photograph:Montreal City Hall, 1913
- McCord Museum {{Authority control Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada

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

Buildings and structures on the National Historic Sites of Canada register Burned buildings and structures in Canada City and town halls in Quebec Government buildings completed in 1878 Landmarks in Montreal National Historic Sites in Quebec Old Montreal Rebuilt buildings and structures in Canada Second Empire architecture in Canada

History and architecture

See also

References

External links