Place des Victoires
The Place des Victoires is a circular square located northeast of the Palais Royal on the boarder of the 1st and 2nd arrondissement of Paris. The square is the meeting place of six streets: Rue de la Feuillade, Rue Vide Gousset, Rue d'Aboukir, Rue Étienne Marcel, Rue Croix des Petits Champs, and Rue Catinat.
The Place des Victoires was laid out in 1685 by the architect Jules Hardouin Mansart who had been appointed by King Louis XIV to create a perfect place for the central equestrian monument of the victorious king. However, during the French Revolution the statue was completely destroyed in 1792 and was replaced with a new one in 1822. The 12-metre high statue sculpted by François Joseph Bosio represents the king sitting on a horse rearing up
The buildings surrounding the square were designed in the style of the Parisian "hôtels particuliers", grand urban private houses. The two floors of the buildings are linked by large pilasters located on a base of high arcades. The façades are topped with sloping slate "mansard roofs" with dormer windows.
Today, the square is an upmarket area full of exclusive boutiques (e.g., Kenzo or Claudie Pierlot). The square also houses the German Forum for Art History and the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art (National Institute of Art History).