Gallia, Renaissance Revival building in Strasbourg, France.
Gallia is a Renaissance Revival building situated on the banks of the Ill river in Strasbourg, featuring facades made from Vosges sandstone and bricks from the region. The structure displays northern European architectural characteristics that define its distinctive appearance along the waterfront.
Built in 1885 as part of Strasbourg's Neustadt after the German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, the building was named Germania after a Hamburg insurance company and the Latin name for Germany. In 1918, when Strasbourg returned to France, it was renamed Gallia, the Latin name for Gaul. In 1927 the AFGES students' association bought the Taverne de l'Université fund, creating France's oldest secular university restaurant, which it managed until 2015.
The building hosts a student dining space that became a gathering point for young people in Strasbourg over the decades. Multiple generations of students have met, eaten, and connected here, making it an important part of student life in the city.
The building stands on the banks of the Ill in the Neustadt, and a tram stop nearby carries its name. The university restaurant and the CROUS regional office occupy it, so the interior is not a sightseeing venue; the carved corner hood, the relief above the first-floor window and the brick-and-stone facades are what to look at from the street.
The building's name changed with the city's allegiance: it opened in 1885 as Germania, after a Hamburg insurance company and the Latin name for Germany, and became Gallia, Latin for Gaul, when Strasbourg returned to France in 1918. The tram stop beside it now carries the Gallia name.
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