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Origin and history

The Millau Hall, located on Place des Halles in the city centre, is a remarkable example of late 19th-century provincial metal architecture. In Baltard style, it combines modern materials for the era – cast iron, glass, brick and iron – in a polygonal dissymmetric structure. Accessible by four doors, it features an elevated central nave and sideways, with two main entrances decorated with frontons with the city's weapons. Its terminal window and wrought iron decoration above the gates reflect a desire for economic rationality and spatial clarity.

The construction of the hall is part of a large roadway operation visible on the communal plans of 1830 and 1896. In 1885, the municipality decided to replace the former hall, located in Place Maréchal-Foch (now Paul Bert School), with a new building at the crossroads of the enlarged streets Sadi-Carnot and Clausel-de-Coussergues, near the court. The plans are entrusted to the municipal architect Étienne Lacure, also designer of the People's House. The work, completed in November 1898, culminated in an inauguration on 1 January 1899. The hall, a communal property, is listed as historical monuments by order of 4 July 1978.

The monument illustrates the adaptation of Parisian architectural innovations – such as the Baltard halls – to the needs of provincial cities. Its light and light structure, designed to accommodate markets and gatherings, reflects the urban and economic changes of the Third Republic. The industrial materials used, combined with local decorative elements (frontons aux armes de Millau), symbolize this duality between technical modernity and territorial anchoring.

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