Part of the “Remarkable Buildings Around the World” series
Standing proudly in Place du Soldat Inconnu, Calais Town Hall — Hôtel de Ville de Calais — is one of the most recognisable landmarks in northern France.
The building was conceived after the historic union of the port city of Calais and the neighbouring lace-making town of Saint-Pierre-lès-Calais in 1885. A new town hall was intended to symbolise the identity and future of the newly united city.
Designed by architect Louis Debrouwer, the building combines Flemish and Renaissance influences with what was then modern reinforced-concrete construction. Work began in 1911 on an area once known as the “Sahara Plain”, situated between the two former towns.
Construction was interrupted by the First World War, when Calais became an important logistics base for the Allied forces. Work resumed after the conflict, and the Town Hall was officially inaugurated on 12 April 1925 — forty years after the union of Calais and Saint-Pierre.
Its most striking feature is the approximately 75-metre-high belfry, visible from across the city and even from the sea. In 2005, it became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Belfries of Belgium and France.
The building also survived another turbulent chapter during the Second World War. When Calais was liberated in September 1944, parts of the façade and the stained-glass windows above the grand staircase were severely damaged. They were subsequently restored, preserving the building’s architectural and civic importance.
An interesting local connection is that Charles de Gaulle married Calais-born Yvonne Vendroux in a civil ceremony in the city in 1921. In the gardens opposite the Town Hall stands Auguste Rodin’s famous sculpture, The Burghers of Calais, commemorating six citizens who offered their lives to save the city during the Hundred Years’ War.
More than a municipal building, Calais Town Hall tells the story of two communities becoming one, of construction interrupted by war, and of architecture surviving destruction and change.
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