Place Vendôme

About this place

The Place Vendôme, originally the Place Louis-le-Grand, and later the Place Internationale, is a public square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is the starting point of the Rue de la Paix. Its regular architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and pedimented screens canted across the corners give the rectangular Place Vendôme the aspect of an octagon. The original Vendôme Column at the centre of the square was erected by Napoleon I to commemorate the Battle of Austerlitz; it was torn down on 16 May 1871, by decree of the Paris Commune, but subsequently re-erected and remains a prominent feature on the square today. Walk through the space as well as around its edges. The relationship between buildings, entrances and routes reveals how everyday life was organised, and why preserving a historic setting involves more than protecting individual monuments.