Place des Victoires: A Square Built for One Man
Why is it significant?
You are standing in a perfect circle. Six streets slip in between the curved façades, and in the middle a bronze king rides a horse rearing up on its hind legs, a daring piece of bronze casting for its time. This square was not built by a king, but by a courtier who wanted to please one.
Key Facts
| Place | Place des Victoires: A Square Built for One Man |
|---|---|
| Address | Place des Victoires, 75002 Paris, France |
| Geo Coordinates | 48.86560, 2.34090 |
| Part of Walk | Glass Roofs and Royal Secrets: From the Louvre to the Covered Passages of Paris |
| Generated | Generated |
You are standing in a perfect circle. Six streets slip in between the curved façades, and in the middle a bronze king rides a horse rearing up on its hind legs, a daring piece of bronze casting for its time.
This square was not built by a king, but by a courtier who wanted to please one. In the 1680s the Maréchal de La Feuillade, a soldier famous for his flattery, bought the land and hired Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the architect of Versailles, to design a stage for a statue of Louis the Fourteenth, celebrating his victories in the war against the Dutch.
The original statue was gilded and showed the king on foot, crowned by a winged Victory, with four bronze captives chained at his feet. La Feuillade even had lanterns burning around it day and night, as if it were a holy shrine. Courtiers joked that he was worshipping the king like a saint. The story goes that he wanted to be buried directly beneath the statue, and planned a tunnel from a nearby church to reach it. Nobody has ever found it.
In August 1792, a few days after the fall of the monarchy, the revolutionaries pulled the statue down and melted it. The four captives survived, and you can see them today in the Louvre. The horseman in front of you is a replacement by the sculptor Bosio, unveiled in 1822 when the Bourbons were back on the throne and wanted their sun king back too.
Over the centuries the elegant mansions were cut up into workshops and warehouses, and in the twentieth century the square became a home of fashion boutiques. One side was even sliced open in the nineteenth century to let a new street through, which is why the circle is no longer quite perfect. It is still one of the most harmonious spaces in Paris, and almost nobody lingers. Follow the Rue des Petits-Champs west, to a doorway with a mosaic floor.