Hotel de Ville de Poitiers
The Hôtel de Ville de Poitiers ( City Hall of Poitiers ) is a representative complex in the style of the Second Empire , which was built between 1869 and 1875.
Geographical location
The town hall is located on the Place du Maréchal-Leclerc (formerly Place d'Armes ), now a pedestrian zone in Poitiers .
history
L'échevinage , built in the 15th century as the university's chapel and library, became the town hall in the 18th century and was the predecessor of today's town hall.
Poitiers City Hall marks the end of a major urbanization project in the city center that began with the opening of the railroad in 1851 and the construction of the prefecture between 1864 and 1869. In connection with the new building of the town hall, today's “Rue Victor Hugo” was created as a boulevard in the style of Georges-Eugène Haussmann .
A neo-Gothic style project was also proposed but rejected. The architect Antoine-Gaétan Guérinot received the order for the new building . The work was interrupted in 1870 by the Franco-Prussian War , so that it could not be completed until 1875.
The building also housed the municipal art museum until 1974.
It is a significant monument that represents the taste of the Second Empire. With a decree of October 29, 1975, the facades, roofs and the main staircase were placed under monument protection.
architecture
Exterior
The facade is designed in the style of neo-renaissance and eclecticism . It refers to the Paris City Hall . The town halls z. B. in Niort or Saint-Jean-d'Angély . The Opéra Garnier in Paris is also considered a model. The main facade is inspired by motifs from the 18th century, in contrast to the much stricter side and rear facades. With its wide windows with double horizontal crossbars, it is inspired by columns and ring beams in the style of the architect Philibert de l'Orme , as well as garlands of foliage and fruit in the style of the architecture of the late 16th century. The medallions and empty pedestals were intended to accommodate sculptures of famous people from Poitou, but were never created due to a lack of financial resources. The decoration of the facade is essentially the work of the sculptors Besnard and Mallet. The city's coat of arms is affixed to numerous parts of the building, on gables, friezes, fittings, door handles, parquet floors, paintings and stained glass windows.
The facade corresponds to the divisions and functions of the interior spaces. A central projection emphasizes the main entrance. Above it there is a balcony with a round arched window, above it a gable decorated with the city arms and the letter P with scrolls, and a clock. It is framed by two allegorical figures, Agriculture and Industry, by Louis-Ernest Barrias . The bell tower towers above everything as a roof turret. It is the work of the animal sculptor Auguste-Nicolas Caïn : four lions placed at the corners are surmounted by putti carrying torches.
Interior
Vestibule and staircase
The main entrance is in the middle risalit. The vestibule on the ground floor opened up to both sides of the museum rooms, which were located on this level, and opens up to the Great Staircase.
These theatrical stairs rise to the loggia. From here the visitor can see and be seen. Several sculptures adorn the staircase: two allegorical caryatids by Louis-Ernest Barrias : Science and Art, and busts of the mayors of Poitiers at the time of construction: Olivier Bourbeau and Arsène Orillard , both by the sculptor Pierre-Amédée Brouillet . The stair handrail designed by Albert Besnard and Mallet takes up the friezes of the facade and the bell tower. The two paintings that adorn the walls are by the official painter of the Third Republic , Pierre Puvis de Chavannes . It is oil painting on canvas that was pasted on the wall to imitate frescoes . Both were painted in 1874. They represent two famous episodes from the history of Poitou :
- Venantius Fortunatus reads poems to and from Saint Radegundis in Ste-Croix Abbey in Poitiers
- Charles Martell saves Christianity by winning the Battle of Tours and Poitiers in 732.
The offices, which are located on both sides of both side wings, can be reached through the doors of the corner pavilions visible in the main facade.
Representation rooms
The representation rooms (city council hall, ballroom and wedding hall) are traditionally arranged on the first floor.
- Wedding hall
In the wedding hall there is a ceiling painted by Léon Perrault , a very successful academic artist at the time. It shows the triumph of Hymenaios (1882). Another painting by the same painter hangs above the fireplace: The Married Couple Before the Law (1884), in a strict neoclassical style.
- Salon d'Honneur / ballroom
The main room, formerly the ballroom, has parquet flooring that shows the city's coat of arms. The stained glass windows are the work of Adolphe Steinheil and show Eleanor of Aquitaine confirming the city charter of 1199. Below the councilors on the right is another portrait: that of the architect Antoine-Gaétan Guérinot. The ceiling is painted with a painting by Jean-Baptiste Brunet : “ Bertrand du Guesclin freed Poitiers from the English in 1372” (1885).
- Coat of arms hall
The hall formerly used by the city council, now called “Salle du coason”, has a ceiling painted by Émile Bin . It shows the city of Poitiers as a woman who rewards work, accompanied by strength, justice, charity and peace. The allegories of the Poitou rivers Boivre and Clain (1881–1882) are depicted on both sides . These two figures are related to the real topography of the rivers: the Clain in the east and the Boivre in the west. Two paintings from a series of four by the painter Alfred de Curzon also hang in this room . The other two are in the wedding hall. These four works were preparatory designs for the ceiling mosaics in the front foyer of the Garnier Opera in Paris. Each represents a mythological love story: Artemis and Endymion , Eos and Cephalos , Orpheus and Eurydice , Hermes and Psyche .
literature
- Charlotte Pon-Willemsen and Geneviève Renaud-Romieux: Hôtels de ville de Poitou-Charentes . Connaissance et Promotion du Patrimoine en Poitou-Charentes. Itinéraires du patrimoine collection, 1999.
- Benéteau-Péan Anne and Vouhé Grégory: Un Louvre pour Poitiers = Catalog d'exposition du Musée Sainte-Croix, 2011.
- Marie-Thérèse Réau: La construction de l'hôtel de ville de Poitiers par Antoine-Gaëtan Guérinot (1868–1885) = Bulletin de la Société d'histoire de l'art français, 1987.
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 46 ° 34 ′ 48.6 ″ N , 0 ° 20 ′ 27.4 ″ E