Hôtel Louvre et Paix, Private mansion on La Canebière, Marseille, France
The Hôtel Louvre et Paix is a six-storey building at 49–53 La Canebière, its dark stone facade pierced by three rows of arched windows with iron balconies. At street level, three broad arches with closed shutters are separated by carved statues of draped figures, and oval C&A signs hang above them. Sculptor Hippolyte Ferrat made four caryatids for the front wall: a winged fish for Europe, an elephant for Asia, a dromedary for Africa and a sphinx for America.
Jean-Charles Pot designed the Grand Hôtel du Louvre et de la Paix, inaugurated on 15 August 1863 with 20 salons, two restaurants and 150 rooms, later 250, over six floors. The French Navy requisitioned it by decree on 11 March 1941; the Kriegsmarine then occupied it before it was sold to a department store. Facades, roofs, staircase, officers' mess and conference room were classified as monuments historiques on 8 June 1982.
Four caryatids on the facade, carved by Aix sculptor Hippolyte Ferrat, personify the continents: a winged fish for Europe, an elephant for Asia, a dromedary for Africa and a sphinx for America. Around the pediment clock, figures of commerce and navigation mark the building's role in Marseille's trade life.
The building stands at 49–53 La Canebière, in the 1st arrondissement near the Old Port. The C&A store entrance is at number 53, while number 49 is the shared entrance for the urban planning agency offices. The facade, including the four caryatids and the pediment clock, is best viewed from the street; interior areas are not open to visitors.
On 28 February 1896 the Lumière brothers' film L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat was projected inside this hotel, less than two months after the first paying cinema screening in Paris. The building then had hydraulic lifts, telephones and electric lighting. Its kitchen was run by chef Apollon Caillat.
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