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Saint-Quentin Town Hall dans l'Aisne

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine urbain
Hôtel de ville

Saint-Quentin Town Hall

    1 Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville
    02100 Saint-Quentin
Ownership of the municipality
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin
Crédit photo : Hullie22 - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1400
1500
1800
1900
2000
1331–1509
Initial construction
XIXe siècle (3e quart)
Neo-Gothic renovations
1914–1918
Destruction during the Great War
1924
Installation of the carillon
1925–1926
Art Deco reconstruction
29 août 1984
Historical monument classification
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The Town Hall, with the hall of deliberations, the vestibule and their decor of 1926 (Box AT 200): classification by decree of 29 August 1984

Key figures

Colard Noël - Suspected architect Suspected author, active in Saint-Quentin.
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc - Architect restorer Author of the bay window (XIXe).
Louis Guindez - Reconstruction architect Reconstruction Art Deco post-1918.
Gabriel Girodon - Decorative painter Works in the wedding hall.
Alphonse Émile Fivet - Sculptor Author of Marianne Art Déco.
Charles Gomart - Local historian Identification of carved heads.

Origin and history

The town hall of Saint Quentin, masterpiece of civil architecture of the Lower Middle Ages in Picardia, was built between 1331 and 1509. Attributed to the architect Colard Noël — also active on the nearby basilica — it symbolizes the city's communal freedoms. Its flamboyant Gothic facade, marked by Flemish influence, is distinguished by triangular gables, nobiliary badges (Moÿ family, La Fons, Vermandois) and a stylized vegetal decoration (oak leaves, vine, curly cabbage). An octagonal campanile, added in 1759, houses a carillon of 37 bells installed in 1924.

The building was built over nearly two centuries, reflecting the economic and political development of Saint Quentin. The building was thoroughly renovated in the 19th century, notably by Viollet-le-Duc (glass bay of the old chapel) and architect Pinguet (negothic tower in 1865). Destroyed during the First World War, it was rebuilt between 1925 and 1926 by Louis Guindez in an Art Deco style, incorporating preserved medieval elements such as the wedding hall, with its ship's hull ceiling and Gabriel Girodon's paintings.

The City Council Chamber, listed as a historic monument in 1984, illustrates this temporal duality. Guindez designed a complete Art Deco decor: a palisander panel sculpted with corporate symbols, a frieze celebrating the reconstruction workers, and a Marianne signed Alphonse Émile Fivet. The furniture, made by Parisian (Jeanselme) and local workshops (Daled, Vally & Soriano), dialogue with Gothic remains, such as the Renaissance fireplace of the old Council Chamber. This architectural palimpsest bears witness to the historical strata of Saint Quentin, from medieval freedoms to post-war renaissance.

The monument also embodies the cultural exchanges of the region. The Flemish influence, visible in the decorations and structure of the gables, recalls the commercial links between Picardia and Flanders in the Middle Ages. The escutcheons of noble families (Dorigny, d-Y) and the sculpted heads of the wedding hall — identified by historian Charles Gomart as representing municipal figures (mayor, jailer, architect) — underline the central role of city hall in local governance. Finally, the 1924 carillon, financed after the war, perpetuates a musical tradition linked to the belfries of the North of France, classified with the intangible heritage of UNESCO.

External links