Place de l'Hôtel de Ville

You’re standing in Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, or Honfleur’s Town Hall Square, right in the heart of the Enclos district. Before it became home to the town hall in the nineteenth century, it was known as Place d’Armes, and it has witnessed some remarkable scenes. In 1360, during the Hundred Years’ War, King Edward III of England himself stood here to assert the might of his crown. A century later, in 1562, Calvinist troops set up camp on this square at the start of the Wars of Religion. More peaceful, but no less memorable, was the triumphant entry of Henri IV in 1603, when crowds gathered here to cheer their king. During the Revolution, the square became a stage for civic life: in 1791 a solemn funeral service was held here in honor of Mirabeau, one of the great political figures of the day, and the municipal council declared eight days of official mourning. Only weeks later, the National Guard unfurled the brand-new tricolor flag on this very spot. In 1848, a Liberty Tree was planted here, symbolizing hope for the new Republic. The town hall you see today, built between 1832 and 1837 in a sober yet monumental style, gave the square its final form. But above all, this has always been a gathering place. Every Whit Monday, the sailors’ procession to Notre-Dame-de-Grâce still begins right here. From an English king to revolutionary fervor, from Mirabeau to today’s mariners, this square has always been, and remains, the beating heart of Honfleur.