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 historic building in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.

, 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 the Place de l'Horloge. 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 1862.

History

The oldest part of the current complex is the

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

which was commissioned by Cardinal

Andouin Aubert Audouin Aubert (Aldouin Alberti, or Andouin) (died 1363) was a French jurist, bishop and Cardinal. He was the son of Guy Aubert, a brother of Pope Innocent VI (Étienne Aubert, a Limousin) (1352-1362). His mother was Marguerite de Livron. His f ...

: it was designed in the

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

and completed in 1363. During the following century the apostolic palace of the

Bishop of Albano The Diocese of Albano () is a Latin suburbicarian see of the Diocese of Rome in Italy, comprising seven towns in the Province of Rome. Albano Laziale is situated on the Appian Way some from Rome. Since 1966, it has both a titular bishop and a ...

developed around the belfry. In 1447, during the residency of Bishop Pierre de Foix, who was the

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

in Avignon, the town council acquired the apostolic palace from the Benedictines of the Convent of St. Laurence and converted it for municipal use. A clock, equipped with colourful jacquemarts to strike the hour, was installed in the belfry in 1471. On 10 June 1790, during the Avignon–Comtat Venaissin War, pro-papacy aristocratic forces attempted to take over the building. The situation was resolved by the intervention of the French mayor of nearby

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

and a detachment of National Guards. In the mid-19th century, the town council decided to demolish the former apostolic palace and erect a purpose-built town hall. The proposed design involved enclosing the old belfry within the new structure. The foundation stone was laid on 29 March 1845, and work on the new building proceeded under the direction of the city architect, Joseph-Auguste Joffroy. The new façade was designed by Léon Feuchère in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, 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

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

in the presence of the mayor, Paul Poncet, on 24 September 1856. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of 11 bays facing onto the Place de l'Horloge. The central bay featured a round headed doorway with a moulded surround flanked by two pairs of

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 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 ...

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 ...

. On the first floor, there was a French door leading out onto a

balustraded 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 ...

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 ...

flanked by two more pairs of Corinthian order columns supporting an open-modillioned

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 ...

with a clock in the tympanum. The wings of five bays each were fenestrated by rounded headed windows on the ground floor, small

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 on the mezzanine floor and tall pedimented casement windows on the first floor. The first-floor windows were flanked by Corinthian order

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 modillioned

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 ...

. Internally, the principal room was the Salle des Fêtes, which was richly decorated in the

Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly Eclecticism in architecture, eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts originating in the Second French Empire. It was characterized by elements of many differe ...

. The architectural historian,

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, an import ...

, was highly critical of the concept of embedding the belfry in the new building: "On voit ici la tour gothique du Jacquemart, seule partie conservée de l'ancien hôtel de ville , qui émerge de la mairie comme les perdrix dans les pâtés de Pithiviers." (English: Here we see the Gothic tower of Jacquemart, the only preserved part of the old town hall, which emerges from the town hall like partridges in the pâtés of Pithiviers.) The newly elected president of France,

Raymond Poincaré Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France. He was a conservative leader, primarily committed to ...

, visited the building on 14 October 1913. Following the liberation of Avignon by troops of the French First Army, under the command of General

Jean de Lattre de Tassigny Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny (2 February 1889 – 11 January 1952) was a French ''général d'armée'' during World War II and the First Indochina War. He was posthumously elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France in 1952. ...

on 25 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 installed in the town hall to commemorate the event.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Avignon Government buildings completed in 1856 City and town halls in France 1856 establishments in France Monuments historiques of Vaucluse