Place Vendôme is a hidden attraction in Paris

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

From above Place Vendôme looks like an open precious casket. Octagonal in layout, decorated with a column in the middle, it strikes with thoughtful symmetry and luxurious style of mansions around. And this magnificence is quite understandable. After all, the square was built on the orders of the connoisseur of all luxury, the "sun king" Louis the Fourteenth. The column in the middle was designed to commemorate the monarch himself, whose sculpture depicted him proudly sitting on a horse and was supposed to testify to the sovereign's many victories. But this landmark did not stand the test of time, or rather, the revolution. It was demolished along with the Bastille. But the area itself remained. But who is now depicted in the center? We will talk about this in our article.

Place Vendôme in Paris: address

Don't think that a haphazard walk around the French capital will take you to this landmark of the city. Despite the fact that Place Vendôme is located in the heart of Paris,the first district, it is not easy to find it. It is, as it were, hidden, and among the dense urban development it stands apart. Only one large street passes through it - Rue de la Paix (Peace). If you look for Place Vendôme on the tourist map of Paris, then you need to focus on the Opera Garnier. This attraction is very close. By the way, if you prefer to move around the city quickly and not depend on eternal traffic jams, then use the metro. Get off at Opera station. Lines 3, 7 and 8 of the Paris subway pass through it. If branch number 1 is closer to you, then you should get off at the Tuileries station. Next, you need to walk north. You can come to the square and from the church of St. Madeleine. If you find yourself in Rue Sainte-Anne and Saint-Roch (easily recognizable by their abundance of Japanese restaurants and eateries), head west.

Backstory

Not even all Parisians know that Place Vendôme owes its existence to banal land speculation. At the end of the 17th century, a group of financiers, including the architect Hardouin-Mansart, bought the residence of the Duke of Vendôme, one of the sons of Henry IV, where he lived with his beloved Gabrielle d'Estre. The buyers planned to demolish the buildings on the entire section of the quadrangular square, completely refurbish it, and then resell the land for a profit. But for some reason this area of Paris was not in demand, and there were no buyers. And the money spent somehow had to be returned. The case was decided by a bribe given to the Superintendent of the Royalresidences by the name of Louvois. He managed to persuade the king to purchase a land plot in order to perpetuate his victories with an equestrian monument. And the frame of the great monarch was to be a new square. The "Sun King" has long been haunted by the laurels of his ancestor, Henry IV, who did a lot to equip Paris. And then there was a wonderful opportunity to perpetuate yourself in bronze. Therefore, money from the royal treasury migrated to the pockets of financiers. Construction has begun.

Place Vendôme in Paris: history, description

The king himself benefited from this land fraud. In 1698, he sold the site to the city authorities, but on the condition that Hardouin-Mansart would beautify the square, and that the center of this building would be decorated with an equestrian monument to the monarch. Moreover, the king wanted to see the result of the work in a year. Therefore, Place Vendôme (in those days it was named after Louis the Great) was built in an unprecedentedly short time. To satisfy the whim of the monarch, the architect first of all erected a monument. And by 1699 the houses that served as a backdrop had only facades. Everything else was completed for a rather long time - until 1720. But the main thing was achieved. The quadrangular parade ground with dark extremities was replaced by an elegant octagon. Approximation of the square in terms of layout to the circle shifted the viewer's attention to the center, where the equestrian statue towered. The softening of sharp corners gave the whole complex elegance and sophistication.

Modern view of the square

Alas, we will no longer see the statue of the "sun king", who proudly sat on a horse in antique robes. It was swept away by revolutionary winds as a symbol of absolute monarchy. Only a fragment of the left leg of the monarch miraculously survived and is now exhibited in the Louvre. However, the center of the square did not remain empty for long. In honor of Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz, a column was erected there, a copy of Trajan in Rome. It was cast from melted down war trophies - Austrian and Russian cannons. At the top of the column was a statue of Napoleon Bonaparte. During the Restoration, it was demolished and a royal oriflamme with lilies was installed. But later the monument to the great commander was restored. Now the work of the sculptor Surre decorates the top of the column. Surprising organic ensemble, which is the Place Vendôme in Paris. The photo shows how the surrounding houses of the same type with colonnades are, as it were, the frame of a giant pillar with a statue of the emperor.

Attractions

It would seem that apart from the monument to Napoleon, Place Vendôme is not interesting for tourists. The attractions of this corner of Paris, meanwhile, lie in the surrounding houses. Number 11 was Poisson's house. In order not to end up in the Bastille, this rich man gave his luxurious mansion to the state, and the Ministry of Chancellery is now located there. The facade of the building is decorated with a marble plate, which is the standard of the meter, which was introduced as a measure of length in 1795. House number 12 became the place of deathFrederic Chopin. The notorious Ritz Hotel is also located on Place Vendôme, where Charlie Chaplin, Coco Chanel, Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Marcel Proust and other celebrities lived. It was from this hotel that the car of Dodi al-Fayed left with Princess Diana on the day of their tragic death.

Connection with Russia

Tourists from Russia will be especially interested in Place Vendôme. At number 12, even before the apartments in the building began to be rented out, the diplomatic mission of Russia was located. Buildings 17 and 19 were owned by the Crozat family of French bankers. One of them sold a collection of paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt and Titian to Catherine II. So these paintings ended up in the Hermitage.