town hall of Nemours

The Hôtel de Ville of Nemours sits in the town of Nemours, in the Seine-et-Marne department, a short distance from the forest of Fontainebleau. Nemours has carried the name of a French duchy for centuries, and traces of that history still shape the town center.

Where is the town hall located today?

The municipal offices of Nemours occupy the former convent building of the Notre-Dame congregation. The town moved its administration there in 1985, closing a long chapter during which municipal business was conducted from the medieval castle overlooking the Loing river.

Where was the town hall before that?

For more than three centuries, municipal affairs were handled inside the castle of Nemours. Louis XIV granted the castle to his brother, the Duke of Orléans, in the early 1670s, and starting in 1674 the building housed both the bailiwick court and the town's governing offices. The castle itself dates back much further, to the twelfth century, when it was raised under Gauthier I de Villebéon, chamberlain to the king. It was later reworked in the fifteenth century under the Duke of Armagnac, then again in the seventeenth century under the Orléans dukes. That same building now operates as the Château-Musée de Nemours, opened to visitors in 1903 through the efforts of sculptor Justin-Chrysostome Sanson; its collection holds roughly twenty thousand works, mostly prints, drawings, photographs, paintings and sculpture from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

What else is worth knowing about Nemours?

The town's name was also carried by a French duchy, one of several titular duchies handed down through royal families over the centuries. Nemours itself sits on the Loing, a tributary of the Seine, and its position close to the Fontainebleau forest makes it a convenient stop for visitors exploring the area south of Paris. Walking from the town hall toward the castle takes only a few minutes and passes through the historic core of town, where municipal administration and ducal heritage sit side by side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the town hall of Nemours located today? It occupies the former convent of the Notre-Dame congregation, where the town's offices moved in 1985.

Did the town hall used to be inside the castle? Yes, from 1674 until the move in 1985, municipal government operated out of the castle of Nemours.

What is the castle used for today? Since 1903 it has housed the Château-Musée de Nemours, a museum with around twenty thousand works in its collection.

Was Nemours once a duchy? Yes, the town lent its name to the titular Duchy of Nemours, one of several French ducal titles passed among royal families.