_On the other side of Chevert Square is the Rue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville, which ends on the right at St. Croix Bridge. Follow it on the left as far as the_ =Hôtel-de-Ville= (_see Itinerary, p. 31_). [Illustration: FAÇADE OF THE HÔTEL-DE-VILLE OVERLOOKING THE GARDENS. (May 1919)] Hôtel-de-Ville As one of the lofty windows bears the date 1623, the popular belief that the building was erected by the famous Governor Marillac is unfounded. It is possible, however, that tradition, according to which Marillac sheltered Marie de Médicis there, after her flight from Paris, is founded on fact. It is a fine structure in the Medicis style. The façade which overlooks the garden resembles that of the Luxembourg in Paris in some of its lines. _At the side of the Hôtel-de-Ville, at No. 19, is the house of M. Clément._ [Illustration: MAIN ENTRANCE (REBUILT) TO THE ABBEY OF ST. VANNE, IN THE COURT OF NO. 19 RUE DE L’HÔTEL-DE-VILLE] A learned amateur, Monsieur Clément, who was killed during the bombardments of 1916, had collected a considerable number of fragments of the Abbey of St. Vanne and rebuilt the principal doorway of the latter (_see p. 52_) in the courtyard of his house. The famous door of the Capitulary Room, described and drawn by Viollet-le-Duc, was of curious 13th-century design. The lintel of the tympanum was ornamented with foliage, which is an interesting peculiarity, as the sculptural decoration of the tympanums of doors was very rare at that time in civil architecture. [Illustration: RUINS IN THE RUE MAZEL AND RUE DU ST. ESPRIT.] _Return to the Place Chevert, cross the St. Croix Bridge, and go to the Place d’Armes_ via _the Place and Rue Mazel_, whose houses are in ruins. [Illustration: THE PRINCERIE IN 1916, RUE DE LA BELLE-VIERGE, NOS. 16 AND 18 (_see p.40_).] Turn to the left into the Rue St. Pierre. In the Place d’Armes take the Rue de la Belle-Vierge as far as the =Hôtel de la Princerie=, former residence of the “primicerius,” first archdeacon of the Cathedral. Rebuilt in 1525, it has been divided in recent times into two houses, Nos. 16 and 18. While the façade of No. 18 was modern, that of No. 16, with its window-gratings, retained its ancient aspect. The courtyard was ornamented on two of its sides with two-storied Renaissance galleries (_hist. mon._). Although of 16th-century construction, the decoration of this cloister was inspired by the Middle Age or Transition Period (_note the crocketted capitals of the pillars and the bases of the latter_). [Illustration: THE PRINCERIE CLOISTER (_hist. mon._) BEFORE THE WAR.] The house was destroyed by the bombardments, and the cloister is almost entirely in ruins. [Illustration: THE PRINCERIE CLOISTER IN 1916.] The street took its name from a statue of the Virgin on the monumental entrance-gate of the deanery. [Illustration: AN OBSERVATION-POST IN MAGDELEINE SQUARE (1916).]