Place de L'Hôtel-de-Ville

Place De L'Hôtel-de-Ville

The public square in the 4th arrondissement of Paris that is now the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville (City Hall Plaza) was, before 1802, called the Place de Grève. The French word grève refers to a flat area covered with gravel or sand situated on the shores or banks of a body of water. The location presently occupied by the square was the point on the sandy right bank of the river Seine where the first riverine harbor of Paris was established.