Place Vendôme

The Place Vendôme is a square situated in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, created to honour the armies of Louis XIV, known as the Sun King. 

The Place Vendôme was built in 1702 and designed by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, known for his work on the Versailles Palace. His task was to create a square that would rival the Place des Vosges, the centre of which was occupied by the statue of Louis XIII - the king's predecessor. Just like that square, the Place Vendôme was surrounded by identical buildings with tall second-floor windows over arched ground floors. Each set of windows was separated by pilasters and ornamental pillars.

The square has octagonal shape and at its centre stands the Vendôme Column, erected by Napoleon I as a homage to the victorious battle of Austerlitz in 1805. After the decree issued by the Paris Commune, the column was torn down on 16 May 1871, only to be later re-erected. It was inspired by Rome's Trajan Column and at first was known as the Colonne d'Austerlitz, later as the Colonne de la Victoire and Colonne de la Grande Armée, and eventually it was given it current name, the Colonne Vendôme. The column is 44 metres tall and its coating is made of more than 400 spiralling bas-relief bronze plates taken from 1200 cannons of Russian and Austrian armies which battled at Austerlitz. The coating was designed by the sculptor Pierre-Nolasque Bergeret. The column is also adorned with reliefs depicting scenes from the Napoleonic Wars between 1805 and 1807. Moreover, it is topped with the statue of Napoleon holding a sword in his right hand and a globe with a statue of Victory in his left hand. The statue was placed there in 1810.  

Today, the buildings surrounding the square are either residential houses or retail stores. Also, on the square, there are two exclusive hotels: Hotel Ritz and Hotel Vendôme. Several famous people resided here in the past, including Frédéric Chopin and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Source of description: planerGO

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Architect definition of architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart
Category definition of category square
Material definition of material
stone
Neighbourhood Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois (1st Arrondissement - Louvre)
Price definition of price
Geographical coordinates 48.8679043, 2.3271538
Address 75001 Paris, Place Vendôme
Construction dates - 1686
Length 213.00
Width 124.00
More information official website

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