Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall)

The Hôtel de Ville of Chalon-sur-Saône stands on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, and its history is that of a building that changed purposes several times before it became the seat of the city government. The structure visitors see today is a nineteenth-century work in the neoclassical style, on the site of a former convent. The Carmelites had a house here before the Revolution, and after their community was dispersed, the buildings were used as barracks. In 1822 the city acquired the property, and for a time, the building housed the law courts, before being rebuilt in the 1840s as the town hall.

The present facade is plain and dignified, in keeping with a taste for restraint in civic buildings of the time. Stone pilasters rise the height of the front, and a pediment crowns the central bay, decorated with sculpture added later in the nineteenth century. There is little ornament beyond the carving, and the proportions give the building a calm authority that suits its function. A neighbouring mansion, which belonged to a family of local industrialists in the metalworking trade, has been added to the complex, and the town hall now includes this mansion as well as the older buildings. It is a working municipal office, so access to the interior is generally limited to official business and special open days, and visitors usually enjoy it from the square.

The square itself is part of the life of the city, with cafés, a market on certain days and links to the pedestrian streets of the centre. Chalon was a significant river port on the Saône from Roman times, and the wealth that came from trade shaped its civic buildings. From the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville it is a short walk to the Quais de Saône, where the river flows past the old town, and to the Église Saint-Vincent, the former cathedral. The Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie and the Collégiale Notre-Dame are among the other places to see, and the Marché de Chalon fills several squares through the week.

Chalon is the birthplace of Nicéphore Niépce, a pioneer of photography, and has a museum dedicated to him; each July it hosts a large international festival of street theatre. A visit to the town hall square takes only a few minutes, and it is best treated as a stop along a longer walk. It suits architecture lovers and anyone exploring the old centre.