Hôtel de Ville de Genève, Town hall in Old Town, Switzerland.

The Hôtel de Ville de Genève is the seat of the political authorities of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, developed in stages between the 16th and 18th centuries. Its street facades, western and northern, have two storeys above ground level topped by an attic raised in 1829-1832, with moulded string courses and rows of mullioned windows. The Tour Baudet, built in 1455-1456 outside the old wall, holds the vaulted lower level where the archives were kept.

The first town house was bought in 1405 on today's rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville; the Baudet tower was built outside the walls in 1455–1456. In 1473–1474 the neighbouring building was largely rebuilt to house the salle des Pas-Perdus, and in 1488–1502 the Council chamber was installed on the tower's second floor. The Renaissance tower of the ramp followed between 1553 and 1584, and the west and north facades were rebuilt from 1618, their galleries finished only in 1706.

The building's name appears in the 1405 purchase of private houses that formed the first maison de ville, on today's rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville. A chapel was built inside from 1505, where mass was celebrated before each council session. The Council of State room in the Tour Baudet was decorated in 1501-1502, probably by Geneva painter Hugues Boulard, with scrollwork and biblical figures; hidden behind panelling in 1711, it was rediscovered in 1901.

The exterior and cobblestone ramp can be viewed from outside, but the interior spaces are typically closed to the public as they serve active government functions. It is worth checking in advance about any occasional openings or guided tours that may be available.

The ramp tower was begun in 1553 and finished around 1584 by master mason Nicolas Bogueret, after the project stalled. Its entrance portal with fluted columns and a pediment is dated 1556. The ramp climbs in a gentle slope without intermediate landings, under an eight-part ribbed vault with a ring-shaped keystone.