Hôtel de Ville
| The Place de l'Hôtel
de Ville was once called Place de Grève (Sandy beach square), and was
where the unemployed used to meet; which is why the French word for a strike is grève. It was also used for the more spectacular and messy public executions, such as those of Ravaillac, who killed King Henri IV, and Damiens, who scratched Louis XV. Both spent half a day here having lumps torn out of them with pincers and the holes filled up with molten lead, before having each limb attached to a different horse. Along one side of the square is the Hôtel de Ville, the Town Hall of Paris. This building dates from 1875, when it replaced a similar one burnt down in the last days of the Commune. The whole square has recently been cleaned and tarted up, and supplied with a raised terrace with a string of rather uninspired fountains at each side. |
