Town Hall

Vannes town hall, a touch of Paris

The Vannes audio-guided tour brings you before the town hall, on Place Maurice Marchais. If the building looks familiar, it is because it recalls, on a smaller scale, the city hall of Paris. Here you leave the atmosphere of the old centre for the great urban redevelopment of the nineteenth century.

The prestige of the nineteenth century

The town hall was built between 1881 and 1886, at a time when Vannes wished to display its standing. The façade is richly decorated, underlining the prestige of the city. The building illustrates the late-nineteenth-century taste for great public buildings, inherited from the Parisian model and the triumphant town planning of the period.

What there is to see

Inside, a monumental marble staircase is crowned by a magnificent stained-glass window depicting the marriage of Anne of Brittany and King Charles VIII of France. This event is crucial for the duchy, which finds itself, like Anne, tied to France: it is the beginning of the end of Breton independence. In front of the town hall also stands an equestrian statue that enlivens the square.

Practical information

Vannes town hall is on Place Maurice Marchais. An active administrative building, it opens to the public during the hours of the municipal services, generally Monday to Friday. The façade and the square can be contemplated freely at all hours.

Why does the town hall resemble the Paris city hall?

Built between 1881 and 1886, it draws on the model of the Paris city hall, in the taste of the great public buildings of the nineteenth century, to display the prestige of Vannes.

What does the interior stained glass represent?

The stained glass above the marble staircase depicts the marriage of Anne of Brittany and Charles VIII, an event marking the gradual attachment of the duchy to France.