Hôtel de Ville, Calais

Hôtel de Ville, Calais
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Main frontage of the Hôtel de Ville in May 2014
LocationCalais, France
Part ofBelfries of Belgium and France
CriteriaCultural: (ii), (iv)
Reference943-048
Inscription1999 (23rd Session)
Extensions2005
Area0.182 ha (0.45 acres)
Buffer zone700 ha (1,700 acres)
Coordinates50°57′09″N 1°51′16″E / 50.95263°N 1.85452°E / 50.95263; 1.85452
Hôtel de Ville, Calais is located in France
Hôtel de Ville, Calais
Location of Hôtel de Ville, Calais in France

The Hôtel de Ville (French pronunciation: [otɛl də vil], City Hall) is the seat of the city council in Calais, France. The building features a belfry of red brick and white limestone which is 72 metres (236 ft) high. It was designated a monument historique by the French government in 2003.[1]

History

An ancient Hôtel de Ville, located in Old Calais, was commissioned by King Francis II, as a place where merchants could meet, in 1559.[2][3] An extra terrace was erected there in 1818.[4]

In 1885, Old Calais, which was centred round Église Note Dame on the north side of the Canal de Calais, merged with Saint-Pierre, which centred round Église Saint-Pierre on the south side of the Canal de Calais.[5] This led to calls for a new Hôtel de Ville to serve both districts. The site the council selected was in the area between the two towns, an area known as the "Plain dite du Sahara", because it was completely covered in sand dunes.[6]

Work on the new building stated in 1912, but was temporarily paused during the First World War. The partly-built structure was hit by a German bomb on the night of 3 September 1917.[7] Work on the building resumed after the war. It was designed by Louis Debrouwer of Dunkirk in the Renaissance Revival and Flemish styles, built in red brick from Kortrijk, white limestone and reinforced concrete, and was completed in 1923.[8]

The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage facing west onto the Place du Soldat Inconnu. The layout involved a belfry, which was 72 metres (236 ft) high, to the north of the site, a recessed connecting bay, and a main block, of seven bays, to the south of the site. The belfry was designed in the style of a flame. The main block featured a round headed doorway in the central bay. It was fenestrated by a series of round headed windows on the ground floor, by squared headed mullioned and transomed windows on the first floor and by three tall dormer windows at attic level. There were also three rows of smaller dormer windows, decreasing in size, projecting from the slate roof. The building was officially opened on 12 April 1925.[9][10]

Following the liberation of the town by the First Canadian Army on 30 September 1944, during the Second World War, a major programme of reconstruction was necessary as many buildings, including the Grand Theatre and the town hall, had been damaged in the fighting.[11]

In 2005, the town hall belfry was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site group of the Belfries of Belgium and France.[12]

Works of art inside the building included stained glass windows depicting the liberation of Calais by François, Duke of Guise in 1558, and a tapestry by Jeanne Thil depicting the Les bourgeois de Calais ("The Burghers of Calais"). This relates to the six leading citizens who were taken by Edward III of England after the Siege of Calais (1346–1347) during the Hundred Years' War.[13] In front of the building there is a sculpture by Auguste Rodin, also depicting "The Burghers of Calais".[14][15][16]

References

  1. ^ Base Mérimée: PA62000055, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  2. ^ Lennel, Fernand (1906). Calais Guide illustré du touriste à Calais et aux environs. Imprimerie Berthaud Frères. p. 11. Le beffroi fait maintenant partie des bâtiments du vieil hôtel de ville de Calais, l'ancienne "Justice de l'Etaple" des marchands anglais, donnée en 1559 par François II aux Calaisiens.
  3. ^ La Grande Encyclopédie. Vol. 8. 1885. p. 840.
  4. ^ Demotier, Charles (1856). Annales de Calais. L'auteur. p. 345.
  5. ^ Cave, Nigel (1990). Battleground Europe A Guide to Battlefields in France & Flanders. Pen and Sword Books. p. 19. ISBN 978-1783832934.
  6. ^ "Map of Calais". Johannes Wilhelm Liebenow. doi:10.4923/50.9526/1.85452 (inactive 1 November 2024). Retrieved 7 October 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  7. ^ "Le beffroi de l'hôtel de ville de Calais percé par une bombe". La Voix du Nord. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Louis Debrouwer, the audacious architect of Calais town hall". Daily Nord. 10 August 2015. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  9. ^ Fontaine, Raymond (1984). The Belle Époque in Calais. Éditions des Beffrois. p. 18. ISBN 978-2402476447.
  10. ^ "Hôtel de Ville de Calais". PSS Architecture. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Calais and Dunkirk Newsreels Nos 75 & 76". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  12. ^ "Belfries of Belgium and France". UNESCO. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Hôtel de Ville et Beffroi de Calais". Compagnie du Dragon. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  14. ^ Guette, Henri (23 May 2017). "Quand Rodin offre à Calais un symbole qui dérange" [When Rodin offered to Calais a symbol that caused uproar]. Beaux Arts (in French). Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  15. ^ "Monument to the Burghers of Calais". Musée Rodin. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  16. ^ "Auguste Rodin: the Burghers of Calais" (PDF). The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 7 October 2024.