Hotel de Ville, Paris

The Hotel de Ville has served as the seat of Paris's municipal government since the sixteenth century, though the building standing on the site today dates only from 1892, after the original structure was burned down in 1871 during the suppression of the Paris Commune. The replacement building, designed by the architects Theodore Ballu and Edouard Deperthes, deliberately echoes the Renaissance style and general form of its destroyed predecessor while expanding its footprint, and its facade is decorated with statues of notable French historical figures set into niches across the front. The large square in front of the building, the Place de l'Hotel de Ville, has repeatedly served as a gathering point during major moments in Parisian political history.