Rouen City Hall

Right next to the Abbatial Church of Saint-Ouen stretching vertically toward the sky, you’ll find its neighbor stretching horizontally along the ground. This is Rouen’s current City Hall. And I say current, because the city’s municipal government has called many other places home before settling here. But why is this building and the church joined at the hip? Well, turns out there’s an explanation for this. Let’s take things from the beginning. When the City Council relocated to this part of the city back in May 1800, it settled into the old abbey dormitory, which had been empty for about a decade. Naturally, the building needed a few alterations, hence the creation of the entrance hall and the addition of the central staircase around 1825. They even demolished part of the church to make way for the Général de Gaulle Square just in front. While the western façade was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style in the mid-1800s, the façade overlooking the garden was left untouched. It’s even been listed as a historical monument since 1948. So has the bronze equestrian statue of Napoleon I, inaugurated on August 15, 1865, on the emperor’s birthday. It is said to have been made from cannons used in the battle of Austerlitz. But time hasn’t been kind to the building. It was rebuilt in 1928 after a big fire destroyed centuries of archives dating back to 1800, and it was damaged again by bombings during World War II. On its forecourt, you’ll see the 12 signs of the zodiac, other classic, universal symbols, and a leopard, the animal featured on the Normandy flag. Fun fact: Back in 1838, this grand building hosted a concert by the famous Franco-Polish composer Chopin, who hated playing in public. It even had its moment on TV, starring in a Tic Tac commercial in 2012! Who would have thought that the buildings around us could hold so many stories and secrets?