Paris Postcard: La Place des Victoires

Today’s Paris Postcards were taken at La Place des Victoires. When I told my sister-in-law that the little square was on my to-see list, she was quite surprised. It is a fairly non-descript public space close to her work in the 2nd arrondissement. What intrigued me was the history of the square and the symmetrical buildings around it. The square was inaugurated in March 1686. The first architect to the king at the time made very strict laws regarding the buildings people could erect around the square. Thanks to those rules only symmetrical buildings were allowed. The sculpture in the middle was of Louis the XIVth and was dedicated to his victories. However, during the Revolution it was taken down and melted into guns! Later, in 1810 a new sculpture was installed, but this time the general was in the nude. Not such a popular option, so today we see the third version of Louis, this time on a horse!