Court House

The courthouse, in La Rochelle

The courthouse of La Rochelle is a fine building registered as a Historic Monument, with a majestic façade with Corinthian columns, on the Rue du Palais. The La Rochelle audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this monument of the eighteenth century, raised on the location of a former palace built by Henri IV, that blends elegantly into the street thanks to its arcades.

The façade with Corinthian columns

Registered as a Historic Monument, the courthouse reveals a fine Corinthian-style façade on the Rue du Palais, to which it moreover gave its name. You admire notably the six high columns that rhythm and support the building, in the noble tradition of ancient architecture, a guarantee of solemnity for a place of justice. You must raise the eyes towards the sky to glimpse the superb ornaments and the sculpted friezes that crown the top of the building, evoking the virtues of justice and law. This building was rebuilt in the eighteenth century on the location of the former courthouse, itself built under the reign of Henri IV: it is therefore part of a long judicial continuity, La Rochelle having sheltered for centuries the institutions of justice of the region. A typically La Rochelle detail, the courthouse blends perfectly into the street thanks to the arcades that support it just in front of its entrance, in the continuity of the covered galleries that line the whole Rue du Palais. Thus, despite its monumentality and its official character, the building integrates harmoniously into the commercial and heritage fabric of the old town. Still today a courthouse in activity, it remains one of the finest civil buildings of the town. A neoclassical monument and a seat of justice, the courthouse is a fine stop of the discovery of La Rochelle.

What to see

You admire a fine building registered as a Historic Monument, with a majestic Corinthian façade adorned with six high columns and sculpted friezes, rebuilt in the eighteenth century on the location of a former palace built under Henri IV; a typically La Rochelle detail, it blends into the Rue du Palais thanks to the arcades that support it in front of its entrance. The courthouse is a civil jewel of La Rochelle. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The courthouse lies on the Rue du Palais, in the heart of the old town of La Rochelle, reachable on foot. It is a judicial building in activity whose façade you admire above all from the street; the interior access follows the conditions and hours of the court, which vary. You discover it during a walk in the centre.

What is the history of the courthouse of La Rochelle?

Rebuilt in the eighteenth century on the location of a former courthouse built under Henri IV, it reveals a majestic neoclassical façade of Corinthian style, adorned with six high columns and sculpted friezes; registered as a Historic Monument, it blends into the Rue du Palais thanks to the arcades that support it, and remains a courthouse in activity.

Where is the courthouse of La Rochelle?

On the Rue du Palais, in the heart of the old town of La Rochelle, in France.