Hôtel de ville du Havre

Le Havre


This colossal building, built in 1958 to replace one flattened by allied bombing in 1944, was designed by architects Auguste Perret – that great connoisseur of reinforced concrete – and Jacques Tournant. It wouldn't look out of place on either flank of Tiananmen Square in Běijīng; in other words, you'll either love it, or hate it. In front – to the south – of the building is the huge Place de l'Hôtel de Ville.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Le Havre attractions

1. Appartement Témoin

0.17 MILES

Furnished in impeccable early-1950s style, this lovingly furnished bourgeois apartment can be visited on a one-hour guided tour that starts at 181 rue de…

2. Le Volcan

0.27 MILES

Le Havre’s most conspicuous landmark, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and opened in 1982, is also the city’s premier cultural venue. One…

3. Église St-Joseph

0.37 MILES

Perret’s masterful, 107m-high Église St-Joseph, visible from all over town, was built using bare concrete from 1951 to 1959. Some 13,000 panels of…

4. Cathédrale Notre-Dame

0.5 MILES

When Le Havre's concrete expanses and straight lines overpower you, stop by this lovely Baroque church, which somehow eluded the intense bombing efforts…

5. Musée Malraux

0.7 MILES

Near the waterfront, this luminous and tranquil space houses a fabulous collection of vivid impressionist works – the finest in France outside Paris – by…

6. Jardins Suspendus

0.87 MILES

The Jardins Suspendus (Hanging Gardens) is an old hilltop fortress transformed into a beautiful set of gardens, whose greenhouses and outdoor spaces…

7. Chapelle Notre Dame de Grâce

7.12 MILES

Built between 1600 and 1613, this chapel sits on the Plateau de Grâce, a wooded, 100m-high hill about 2km west of the Vieux Bassin. The area offers great…

8. Naturospace

7.24 MILES

Children and adults will enjoy this lush greenhouse that houses scores of species of free-flying tropical butterflies in the northwest of town, a short…