Place Vendôme

The Place Vendôme is one of the grandest squares in Paris, an octagonal space in the first arrondissement, north of the Tuileries Garden and near the Opéra, surrounded by uniform facades of pale stone. It was laid out for Louis XIV at the end of the seventeenth century to a plan by the royal architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The king wanted a square that would show off his glory, with an equestrian statue at its centre, and the facades were built first, to a single design, with tall arches at street level, pilasters and steep roofs with dormer windows, and the plots behind them were sold to private builders between 1702 and 1720. The statue of Louis XIV, which gave the square its first name, was destroyed during the Revolution in 1792.

Its present centrepiece is the Vendôme Column, erected in 1810 on the orders of Napoleon to celebrate his victory at Austerlitz. It is modelled on Trajan's Column in Rome and stands about 44 metres high, and its core is covered with bronze plates made from cannons captured from the Russian and Austrian armies, with a spiral relief that tells the story of the campaign. A statue of Napoleon stands at the top. In 1871, during the Paris Commune, the column was pulled down, and the painter Gustave Courbet was held responsible and ordered to pay for it; it was re-erected in 1874.

The square has been a centre of luxury since the late nineteenth century. Boucheron, the first of the great jewellers, opened here in 1893, followed by Van Cleef & Arpels and Chaumet, whose historic home is at number 12, where the composer Frédéric Chopin died in 1849. Cartier, whose workshops and boutiques are in the neighbouring Rue de la Paix and in the square, and Mellerio, the oldest of the Paris jewellers, with a history that goes back to the seventeenth century, belong to the same quarter. The Ritz Paris, a luxury hotel opened in 1898, occupies number 15, and has hosted writers, royalty and film stars, and the Ministry of Justice has its seat at number 13.

The square is open to walkers at any time, with no charge, and a stroll around it takes twenty to forty-five minutes. The best time is in the morning, when the light picks out the stone, or in the evening, when the jewellers' windows and the column are lit. The shop windows are worth a look, even if you are not buying.

The square suits lovers of architecture and history, and anyone who wants to see the Paris of luxury. The Opéra Garnier, the Tuileries Garden and the Rue Saint-Honoré are all a short walk away.