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Hôtel de Ville, Cannes

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Town hall in Cannes, France

Hôtel de Ville
The main frontage of the Hôtel de Ville in July 2010
General information
TypeCity hall
Architectural styleNeoclassical style
LocationCannes, France
Coordinates43°33′05″N 7°00′45″E / 43.5514°N 7.0126°E / 43.5514; 7.0126
Completed1876
Design and construction
Architect(s)Louis Hourlier

The Hôtel de Ville (French pronunciation: [otɛl də vil], City Hall) is a municipal building in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, southern France, standing on Allées de la Liberté. It has been included on the Inventaire général des monuments by the French Ministry of Culture since 1983.

History

The first town hall in Cannes was close to Saint Anne Chapel in the Le Suquet district of the town. The council relocated to the Bâtiment de la Boucherie (Butcher's Building) close to the L'école des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Art) in 1515. Following the French Revolution, the council rented offices from Compte Pierre Joseph Rostan d'Ancezune and others, remaining there for nearly a century. In the mid-19th century, the council decided to commission a dedicated town hall. The site they selected was at the western end of the Allées de la Liberté, close to the sea front.

Construction of the new building started in 1874. The building was designed by Louis Hourlier in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1876. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of 13 bays facing onto the Allées de la Liberté. The central bay featured a round headed opening flanked by two pairs of Doric order columns supporting a cornice and a balcony. There was a French door with a moulded surround and a triangular pediment, flanked by Ionic order columns supporting a modillioned cornice, on the first floor, and there was a Diocletian window, flanked by two pairs of caryatids supporting a modillion cornice, on the second floor. The central bay was surmounted by a clock, which was surrounded by ornate carvings and topped by a heraldic shield and a crown. The other bays were fenestrated by casement windows on all floors, the windows on the second floor being round headed. The bays were flanked by Doric order pilasters spanning the ground and mezzanine floors, ionic order columns on the first floor and caryatids on the second floor.

Internally, the principal room was the Salle de Conseil (council chamber). There was also the Musée Alphonse de Rothschild (Museum Alphonse de Rothschild), the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle (Natural History Museum) and a library with 37,000 volumes, many of them of regional importance.

A syndicat d'initiative (tourist information centre) was established in the building in 1907. A monument, in the form of group of one airman, two soldiers and a sailor, cast in bronze, which was designed by the sculptor, Albert Cheuret, and intended to commemorate the lives of local service personnel who died in the First World War was unveiled in front of the town hall in November 1927. The Musée Alphonse de Rothschild (Museum Alphonse de Rothschild) closed in 1939, and the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle (Natural History Museum) closed in 1941.

There was a serious fire in the building, caused by a fault in an electrical panel, in June 2021. Repair work took over four months to complete and cost €3 million.

Notes

  1. The museum was established with support from Alphonse James de Rothschild, whose mother, Betty von Rothschild lived at Villa Rothschild in Cannes.

References

  1. ^ Base Mérimée: IA06000102, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  2. "Premier hôtel de ville, tuerie, issugan, horloge". Municipal Archives. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Hôtel de ville de Cannes". Structurae. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  4. "Le nouveau conseil municipal des jeunes cannois est en place avec 39 membres". Cannes Municipal Council. 9 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  5. Schor, Laura S. (2006). The Life & Legacy of Baroness Betty de Rothschild. P. Lang. p. 151. ISBN 978-0820478852.
  6. ^ Carlini, Marcel (1996). Cannes. (Equinoxe) réédition numérique FeniXX. p. 50–51. ISBN 978-2377480166.
  7. Base Mérimée: PA06000036, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  8. Base Mérimée: IA06000590, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  9. "Rebith of the Cannes Museum of Fine Arts". L'oeil cacodylate librairie. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  10. "Découvrez les plus belles mairies des régions de France métropolitaine". Paris Enigmas. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  11. "Un incendie se déclare dans la mairie de Cannes, les pompiers sur place". France3. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  12. "Fire at Cannes town hall linked to short circuit". France Bleu. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  13. "Cannes City Hall Hit by Fire, No Injuries Reported". Ouest France. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  14. "Quatre mois après le feu à l'hôtel de ville de Cannes on fait le point sur les travaux". Nice-Martin. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
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