Palais Rohan, Bordeaux

The Palais Rohan is the name of the Hôtel de Ville, or City Hall, of Bordeaux, France. The building was constructed from 1771 to 1784, originally serving as the Archbishop's Palace of Bordeaux.

Palais Rohan

History

In 1771, the new Archbishop of Bordeaux, Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec, prince of Rohan, decided to rebuild the old medieval archbishop's residence, viewing it as not being worthy of its rank. The new building was designed by the architect Richard-François Bonfin, it took 13 years to build and was completed in 1784. It is a hôtel particulier, "entre cour et jardin" (placed "between a courtyard and a garden"), and features an austere Louis XVI-style façade. Its staircase is considered a masterpiece of stone masonry.

After the French Revolution, in 1791, the building housed the Gironde department prefecture. In 1837, it became the Bordeaux Town Hall. The municipal council room, designed in 1889, is characteristic of official architecture during the Third Republic.[1]

The garden, initially designed in the French formal style, now takes on an English landscape style. Since 1880, it has been bordered by two wings that house the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux.

On the night of October 5 to 6, 1996, when Alain Juppé was Prime Minister and Mayor of Bordeaux, a bomb exploded under the windows of the mayor's office, next to the garden. The attack was claimed the next day by the Corsican group FLNC Canal historique. The explosion damaged the ground floor of the town hall, but caused no casualties.[2]

On 23 March 2023, the building was set on fire by protesters during the pension reform strikes. The front door was affected, though the fire was put out promptly by firefighters.[3][4]

  • Main entrance of the courtyard
    Main entrance of the courtyard
  • Facade at rear overlooking garden
    Facade at rear overlooking garden

44°50′16″N 0°34′47″W

References
  1. "Palais Rohan". Bordeaux Tourism. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  2. "L'hôtel de ville de Bordeaux a été la cible de terroristes samedi soir. Une bombe explose dans la mairie d'Alain Juppé. L'hôtel de ville de Bordeaux a été la cible de terroristes samedi soirUne bombe explose dans la mairie d'Alain Juppé". Libération (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  3. "Bordeaux town hall set on fire in France pension protests". BBC News. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  4. Rédaction, La (2023-03-23). "Des casseurs d'extrême-droite derrière la tentative d'incendie de la mairie de Bordeaux ?". Rue89Bordeaux (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-23.


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