Lausanne City Hall was built between 1673 and 1675 between Place Palu and Louv in the heart of the old quarters. The name of Place Palu, now lined with café tables, comes from the French word for "malaria". It reminds us of the times when the area was marshy.
The town hall was built on the site of a market that had operated here since the 14th century. The tradition was so strong that even nowadays spontaneous markets periodically appear under the Town Hall, where flowers and foodstuffs are sold.
Lausanne City Hall was built according to the project of architect Pierre Reber. The construction work was supervised by the master craftsman Abraham de Crouzac. The three-storey Town Hall, with its roof characteristic of Swiss farmsteads, was not only an administrative building. It also fulfilled economic and defence functions. For example, on its ground floor there was a market hall where traders sold their products in case of bad weather. In the neighbouring hall there was a granary. A small clock tower, which dominates the whole structure, was used to keep watch over the neighbourhood. The watchman's job was to report fires in the city so that they could be quickly extinguished. The alarm was raised by the sound of a bell.
The construction of the building is also interesting. If you look closely, you will notice how the vertical axis of the structure is reinforced with the help of simple architectural means. We can clearly see the carved portal and the sharp spire of the tower pointing up into the sky, and suddenly we notice how crowded the windows are and how narrow the arches in the centre of the facade are.
