town hall of La Seyne-sur-Mer

The town hall of La Seyne-sur-Mer stands on the Quai Saturnin Fabre, right on the harbour of this coastal town in the Var department, just a short distance from Toulon. The building visitors see today is not the original one — its 19th-century predecessor was lost in the war, and what replaced it is a striking piece of postwar modernism.

What did the first town hall look like?

The town's first purpose-built town hall went up in 1847 on what was then called rue du grand môle, close to the harbour front. It was designed in a neoclassical style and built from ashlar stone, officially opening under mayor Jean-Louis Martinenq. The façade followed a formal, symmetrical layout with five first-floor windows running along a single balcony, and a stone lintel above the entrance carried the construction date. Inside, the building held the council chamber, a marriage hall, and the civil registry offices.

What happened to it during the war?

On 17 August 1944, during the Allied bombardments tied to Operation Dragoon and the liberation of the Var coast, the 19th-century town hall suffered severe damage. It had served the town for nearly a century, but after the Liberation the ruined structure was torn down rather than restored.

Who designed the current building?

The replacement was designed by Jean de Mailly, a Prix de Rome-winning architect associated with a modernist idiom drawing on Le Corbusier's emphasis on strong horizontal and vertical lines. Built in concrete and glass, the new town hall was inaugurated on 4 January 1959.

What makes the building's architecture distinctive?

Unlike its symmetrical predecessor, the new town hall presents an asymmetrical façade of ten bays facing the Quai Saturnin Fabre. The leftmost bay is clad in black tiles, while the remaining bays are glazed in large glass panels, and a taller office block rises behind the main frontage. In the late 1980s, a colourful op-art mural made of coloured cubes — in the visual language associated with Victor Vasarely — was added to the building's north wall. Between 2003 and 2009 the town hall underwent a full renovation and extension.

Why stop here while exploring La Seyne-sur-Mer?

The town hall sits at the heart of the harbour district, with views over the marina and the former shipyard grounds that shaped much of the town's history. It makes a natural starting point for a walk along the waterfront and through the old town, and its architecture — the contrast between the vanished 19th-century neoclassicism and the postwar modernist rebuild — sums up the town's own story of wartime destruction and reconstruction.

Frequently asked questions

Is today's town hall the same building built in the 19th century? No. The original 1847 town hall was badly damaged in the bombardments of 17 August 1944 and demolished after the war. The current building is a new construction, inaugurated in January 1959.

Who designed the present town hall? Architect Jean de Mailly, a Prix de Rome laureate, designed the modernist building.

What is featured on the town hall's façade? Its north wall displays a colourful op-art mural in the style associated with Victor Vasarely, added in the late 1980s.

Where exactly is the town hall located? On the Quai Saturnin Fabre, in the harbour area of La Seyne-sur-Mer, in the Var department, close to Toulon.

Has the building been altered since 1959? Yes, it underwent a complete renovation and extension between 2003 and 2009.