About this place
The Hotel de Ville is among the largest and finest town halls in France, so vast that it stretches right through its block, facing the Place des Terreaux on one side and the Place de la Comedie and the opera house on the other. It was first built between 1646 and 1672 to the design of the local architect Simon Maupin, during the age when Lyon grew wealthy on silk and banking. Only two years after its completion, a fire in 1674 gutted much of the building. For the reconstruction Lyon called on Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the architect of Versailles, working with Robert de Cotte, and between 1700 and 1703 they gave the City Hall the ornate Baroque facade admired today, complete with an equestrian relief of King Henri the Fourth. The building survived a second fire in 1803 and remains the working seat of the mayor of Lyon.
Key facts
- 1672 year — The original city hall was completed to the design of Simon Maupin
- 1674 year — A fire gutted the building only two years after it was finished
- 2 squares — The vast palace stretches between the Place des Terreaux and the Place de la Comedie
📍 Rue Puits Gaillot, 69001, Lyon