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 municipal building in

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

Haute-Vienne Haute-Vienne (; , ; Upper Vienne) is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve départements that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The prefecture an ...

, western

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 Jacques Chirac. 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 1975.

History

In medieval times, the city was managed by the consuls who were based in an ancient town hall in Rue Fontgrouleu (now Rue du Consulat) which dated back to 1487. Following the French Revolution, a new town hall was established: the site the council selected was a former convent in Place Saint-Gérald. This was a simple two-storey building with a central bell tower, which was completed in 1811. On 4 April 1871, inspired by the establishment of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

, a crowd of revolutionary guardsmen stormed both the town hall and the prefecture, and demanded the establishment of a similar commune in Limoges. In the ensuing

melee A melee ( or ) is a confused hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight among several people. The English term ''melee'' originated circa 1648 from the French word ' (), derived from the Old French ''mesler'', from which '':wikt:medley, medley'' and ...

, shots were fired and Colonel Auguste Billett of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

was mortally wounded, although the French Army eventually regained control. After a local resident, Alfred Fournier, died leaving his entire estate to the city in July 1875, the council decided to demolish the old town hall and to erect a new building on the same site. The foundation stone for the new building was laid in July 1879. It was designed by Charles-Alfred Leclerc in the

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

, 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 on 14 July 1883. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of 11 bays facing onto Place Léon Betoulle. The central section of five bays featured a series of tall carriage arches on the ground floor, and was fenestrated by tall

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

balustrades 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 ...

on the first floor. At roof level, there was a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

, which was decorated with four medallions, and a central clock tower with an ornate

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 high. The end sections of three bays each were fenestrated in a similar style and surmounted by separate

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

s. The medallions on the parapet were created by

Giandomenico Facchina Biography Giandomenico Facchina was born in 1826 in Sequals, today in the province of Pordenone in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, at that time part of the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom. He was trained in Trieste and Venice. He first worked on the r ...

and depicted the painter, Léonard Limosin, the former chancellor, Henri François d'Aguesseau, the statesman,

Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud (; 31 May 1753 – 31 October 1793) was a French lawyer and statesman, a figure of the French Revolution. A deputy to the Assembly from Bordeaux, Vergniaud was an eloquent orator. He was a supporter of Jacques Pier ...

, and the military leader,

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (; 29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I i ...

. The two pediments on either side of the clock were surmounted by statues, sculpted by Tony Noël, representing the industries of goldsmithing and enamelling. A stone fountain, designed and sculpted by Charles Genuys, was installed in front of the town hall in 1893. In May 1940, 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 ...

, the mayor, Léon Betoulle, welcomed the prime minister of Belgium,

Hubert Pierlot Hubert Marie Eugène Pierlot (, 23 December 1883 – 13 December 1963) was a Belgian politician and Prime Minister of Belgium, serving between 1939 and 1945. Pierlot, a lawyer and jurist, served in World War I before entering politics in the 192 ...

, and other members of the

Belgian government in exile The Belgian Government in London (; ), also known as the Pierlot IV Government, was the government in exile of Belgium between October 1940 and September 1944 during World War II. The government was wikt:tripartite, tripartite, involving minis ...

to the town hall in Limoges. Following the death of the former president of France,

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

, in September 2019, the address of the town hall was changed to Place Jacques Chirac in 2022.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Limoges Government buildings completed in 1883 City and town halls in France 1883 establishments in France Monuments historiques of Haute-Vienne