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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 historic building in
Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...
,
Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...
, southern
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, standing on Place d'Hôtel de Ville. It was designated a ''
monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
'' by the French government in 1995.


History

The first town hall in Aix-en-Provence was an ancient structure in the Place de l'Annonerie-Vieille. The city council relocated to the current site on the west side of the town square in 1326. During the Italian War of 1536–1538, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V invaded
Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...
and took Aix-en-Province in August 1536. After the French Army blocked his route, he retreated to Italy and his ally, Charles III, Duke of Savoy ordered the destruction of the town hall as well as the entire municipal archives. After the flames took hold, only a few minute books survived the fire. A clock tower surmounted by a metal frame supporting a bell was installed at the northeast corner of the town hall in 1510, and an astronomical clock was installed in the tower in 1661. Although the building had been restored in 1538, it was dilapidated by the mid-17th century and, in 1652, the city council decided it should be rebuilt. The new building was designed by Pierre Pavillon in the neoclassical style, 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 completed in 1668. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto the square. The central bay featured a round headed doorway flanked by two pairs of
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 an iron
balcony A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...
; there was a French door on the first floor and a round arch containing a bust of
Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
on the second floor, all surmounted by a
pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
. The other bays were fenestrated by
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 with moulded surrounds, 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
frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
with triglyphs and rosettes above the ground floor, a frieze with scrolls winding in opposite directions above the first floor (in the style of the Maison carrée in
Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
), and a
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
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 ...
broken by round headed pediments containing carvings above the second floor. There were also large statues, sculpted by Jean-Claude Rambaud and Jacques Fossé, depicting Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence and also
Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...
, who succeeded Charles as Count of Province in 1481. The building also featured an inner courtyard with fine carvings on the inner façades. Internally, the principal room was the Salle des Etats de Provence (Room of the Province of Provence) on the first floor. Most of the artwork in this room was entrusted to Joseph Cellony and his son, Joseph André Cellony, and to Louis René Vialy in the early 18th century. A series of portraits depicting the Counts of Province and the Kings of France were subsequently installed in the room. The two statues were torn down, and the bust was removed and replaced by a bust of
Marianne Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed i ...
, in August 1792 during the French Revolution, and a fine library bequeathed to the town by Jean-Baptiste Marie de Piquet, Marquess of Méjanes on his death in 1786 was installed on the second floor of the building in November 1810. The roof was refurbished and the façade was restored in October 1868. Following the liberation of the town by the American 3rd Infantry Division, supported by
French Forces of the Interior The French Forces of the Interior (FFI; ) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as F ...
, on 21 August 1944, during 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 ...
, a plaque was placed on the clock tower to commemorate the event. The library was moved to a dedicated building, the Bibliothèque Méjanes, in 1989.


References


Sources

*{{cite book, url= https://books.google.com/books?id=W0AbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT82 , title= Les rues d'Aix ou, Recherches historiques sur l'ancienne capitale de la Provence , volume= 1 , first=François Ambroise Thomas, last= Roux-Alpheran , year= 1846, publisher=Aubin Monuments historiques of Aix-en-Provence Buildings and structures completed in 1668 City and town halls in France 1668 establishments in France Government buildings completed in the 17th century