In 1357, Etienne Marcel , Provost of Merchants, the representative of the Trade Guilds bought the " House of Pillars " on the Place de Grève which is the present site of the Hôtel de Ville . A gently sloping shingle beach served as a river port for unloading wheat and wood. It merged into a square, the Place de Grève (or Strand), a place where Parisians often gathered, particularly for public executions. This is where Ravaillac , Henri IV 's murderer, was hung, drawn and quartered, and where heretics, and poisoners like La Brinvilliers and La Voisin were burned at the stake. In 1533, François I decided to endow the city with a Hôtel de Ville which would be worthy of the Parisians. He appointed two architects : an Italian, Dominique de Cortone nicknamed Boccador because he had a red beard and a Frenchman, Pierre Chambiges . Boccador , steeped in the spirit of the Renaissance, drew up the plans of a building which was at the same time tall, spacious, full of light and refined. Building work began in 1533 and was not finished until 1628 during the reign of Louis XIII . During the following two centuries no charges were made to the edifice. However, in time, Boccador's Hôtel de Ville turned out to be too small for the needs of the city. In 1835, on the incentive of the Prefect of Paris two wings were added to the main building and were linked to the facade by a gallery.