Le Centorial, Historical monument in 2nd arrondissement, France.

Le Centorial occupies a full block of the 2nd arrondissement, its stone facade pierced by tall windows and topped with a mansard roof. Behind the facade, a metal framework from the Eiffel workshops carries the floors, and a double spiral staircase links the levels. The central block, modelled on the Louvre's Pavillon de l'Horloge, closes the perspective of the rue du Quatre-Septembre.

Le Centorial was built from 1909 to 1913 as the new Paris headquarters of Crédit Lyonnais, with Victor Laloux as architect and André-Félix Narjoux assisting. The bank kept buying neighbouring plots until the complex filled the block bounded by rue du Quatre-Septembre, rue de Choiseul and rue de Gramont. The 2001 renovation by architect Jean-Jacques Ory converted the offices for multiple tenants.

The bank's name survives in the carved lettering on the facade, where "Crédit Lyonnais" can still be read above the entrance. The building's decoration repeatedly refers to Lyon, the bank's founding city, and the ground-floor spaces were designed as a public banking hall, with tall windows lighting the counters.

The site is easily accessible in a central Paris neighborhood with good public transport connections. Visitors should note that parts of the building remain in office use today and are not open to public viewing.

The lead figure of Lyon at the entrance is one of several city allegories on the facade, placed there to mark the Crédit Lyonnais's network of regional branches. Look up above the doors to compare the figures and their attributes.