Place Vendôme, Paris

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One of the largest and most elegant of Paris’ squares, Place Vendôme is the brilliant creation of the very architect who designed much of Chateau Versailles for Louis XIV. It was once the site of the palace of César de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme and illegitimate son of Henri IV, and fell into nephew Louis’ hands after a couple of aborted real estate schemes. Jules Hardouin-Mansart was engaged to develop the property into a showpiece of posh, private residences around an expansive public plaza, and 300 years later it remains little changed except that banks, luxury shops and expensive hotels have replaced most of its former well-heeled residents.

The genius of Hardouin-Mansart’s plan was in protecting the integrity of his design while allowing for individual customization. The mirror-image facades were constructed first, and then the lots sold under agreement that the owners could build whatever they wished behind them as long as the structure wasn’t visible from the front.

You can get a 360-degree look at facades here:
http://www.360cities.net/image/place-vendome-paris-2#900.46,-36.56,75.4

What HAS changed is the monument in the center of the square. The spot was once occupied by a statue of the Sun King himself - which was removed during the Revolution, replaced by a ho-hum piece of statuary, and then replaced again during Napoleon’s reign with the column you see today. It too was torn down in during the Paris Commune in 1871 but the pieces were salvaged and it was re-erected in1874 with a copy of the Little General’s original statue on the top. Colonne Vendome was inspired by Trajan’s Column in Rome, is covered in bronze panels from cannon captured during the victory of Austerlitz, and illustrates scenes from that battle.

Notable residents of Place Vendôme were Frédéric Chopin, who died at #12; author George Sand; Napoleon III’s mistress, Countess de Castiglione; and Hardouin-Mansart himself. Famous guests of The Ritz hotel, located on the west side of the square, included Coco Chanel, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Maria Callas, and world leaders/royalty too numerous to mention - most notably Princess Diana on the last day of her life.

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a world of luxury and history all blend into one. It was my route to go from one office to the next for two years on the same post, I walked the 10 mins or so as there is so much to see in paris above ground, that you never becomes bored. and you come to Paris to see above ground remember.

All comes from the imagination of king Louis XIV, the place Vendôme is the golden jewel of Paris as well as a symbol of the absolut monarchy,where the markets and marriages of the kingdom are held.
Advised by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart (Versailles too!) , the king first buys the hotel du duke de Vendôme in 1685. The land covers 8 hectares (about 15 acres). The project inclus the movement for building Royal instittutions such as the court of taxes, library,and the academies. Quickly the great fortunes comes here such as banker John Law the inventor of paper money coming here in 1718.

The place was always use to symbolism starting with the French revolution, whree on August 11 1792 Danton charge the royal chacellerie and installed the first government of the republic. The first order is to dismantled the equestrian statue of the Louis XIV on August 13 1792. In 1812, it is the Gen Malet that tries a coup d'état after announcing the death of the emperor in Moscow, he is quickly put down and shown to the crowds that kills him. It was here where the crowds come to help in the degradation of Gen Bonnaire old empire soldier sentence to death for the accidental death of the chief of staff of the army of king Louis XVIII. The Royals chose this place of ceremonies at the foot of column Vêndome built in 1810 by Napoléon,in honor of the great army.

This column is made from the melted bronce of 1200 cannons of the wars of Napoleon 1er. The government of the restauration puts a white flag after taken down the statue of Napoléon, the monarchy of July puts its tricolor flag ,with a new statue of Napoléon, in order to find a political consensus. The troops of emperor Napoléon III merge on this site for the celebration of the victories at Magenta and Solferino .

The column is taken down by the communards rebellion of May 16 1871. Finally ,the column is restore to its original pedestal by the IIIème Republic. It is still there on a high of 44 meters. The political passions have left this plaza and now luxurious shops converge, but we still find the old chancellerie there ::).
This is a private site, I held many meetings, by folks who expressed an interest in the upkeep and the shops and places around the plaza.
http://comite-vendome.fr/

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We are back on the Hop on/off Bus again, heading to Stop 7.
Before we reach it, and not that long after leaving stop 6, we pass by Place Vendome.
This square, located in the first arrondissement, was created as a monument to the glory of the armies of Louis XIV, the Sun King.

It is located in one of the most exclusive areas of Paris. That is why you find the very upmarket shops and Hotels, which include the very expensive Hotel Vendome and the "The Ritz," where Princess Diana spent her last night before being killed in a car accident.
Some of the buildings today are used as residences by billionaires. The place is now also surrounded by jewellers, prestigious banks, labels such as Chaumet, Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Dior and more.....
Bring plenty of money or a high limit credit card with you.

Is it the most luxurious square in the World...........I will leave that to you to decide.

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Colonne Vendome was in the centre of Vendome Square. Over the years, its name has changed many times, from Colonne d"Austerlitz when first erected by Napoleon, then Colonne de la Victoire (Victory Column) and Colonne de la Grande Armee (Column of the Great Army).
This 44 meter tall column is modeled after Rome's Trajan Column. It was built to commemorate the victory at Austerlitz in 1805, one of Napoleon's greatest achievments, that is why it was originally known as the Colonne d"Austerlitz.
Have a look at the continuous ribbon of bas-relief bronze plates circling the column, depicting scenes during the Napoleonic Wars between 1805 and 1807.

A statue of Napoleon was onto of the column in 1810. Later, the statue was removed and melted down to provide the bronze for the recast of the equestrian statue of Henri IV on the Pont Neuf.
A new statue appeared in 1833, then this was replaced by the statue that is seen today. It was erected by Napoleon III and depicts Napoleon I as a Roman emperor.

Place Vendôme, located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, located north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the church of the Madeleine. One of the most beautiful squares in Paris, the place Vendome is a symbol of luxury. The place is truly beautiful, close to the Louvre, the Rue de Rivoli, is a place not to be missed during a first visit to Paris.

Place Vendome is without doubt one of the most beautiful architectural ensembles in Paris. It was built at the initiative of Louvois, superintendent of buildings under Louis XIV. The king bought in 1685 the Hotel de Vendome and the first convent of the Capuchin order to achieve it. Work began in 1686. Interrupted in 1691, they resumed in 1699 under the direction of architects and JH Mansart Boffrand.

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I was always very impressed by the geometric harmony of this square.

The square was constructed in the 18th century to commemorate the armies of Louis XIV, but only after Napoleon, was added the central column, modelled after Trajan's column in Rome, to commemorate the victory in Austerlitz.

This is one of the places that I can't describe - we must be there to feel the balance, the proportions, the size. Wonderful!

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Place Vendome carries a name of a duke who lived there. The square appeared in 1687-1720 to become a worthy frame for a horse monument to Lui XIV. The monument stood on the square before the revolution during which people dumped it and thrust a peak on this place. Napoleon installed a column on a place of a peak cast of bronze of trophy guns (Austrian and Russian which he grasped in Austerlitz). The column was crowned with a statue of Napoleon. In two years it was replaced with a statue of Henry IV. In 1863 the statue of Napoleon returned on its place again.

You can watch my 2 min 15 sec Video Paris Place Vendôme out of my Youtube channel.

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This is the place to be when shopping for high end designer clothes and jewelry. This square is just amazing. Everything is so high end here that your head may be spinning. Charvet, the shirtmaker store located at number 28 is the only original store from 1877 that still stands. Nevertheless, it is an amazing square for window shopping, photo shooting and just relaxing and enjoying the architecture.

The original square built in 1702 was destroyed during the French Revolution and was finally rebuilt by the financier John Law in 1720. Coco Chanel and Fredric Chopin lived here.

Stop by and check it out if you have a chance. Even if you can't afford to stay at The Ritz (a signature hotel in Place Vendome since 1898), it is still worth a stop.

Place Vendome was designed and created in 1702 by Jules Hardouin Mansart, the chief architect of Louis XIV th, one of the biggest architects of its period (baroque).
His great uncle François Mansart, is known as the promoter of the "mansard" (penthouse).
It can be easily seen the square shape with the chamfered corners, highlighted by the big frontons with Corinthian columns.
The column in the middle of Place Vendome was added later by Napoleon to celebrate his victory on Austerlitz.

Unfortunately, at the date of our short visit in Paris, we didn't know too much about all this details...This is why I'm trying to help you be more informed, before starting the trip of your life :)

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No doubt about it when you walk around here you can almost smell the money....All around the place are jewellers, fur merchants and a couple of the most luxurious hotels in Paris, notably the Ritz from where Princess Diana started on her last journey. The plans for the place were laid out in the latter part of the 17th c. and owners made to conform to these plans. Most of the facades are classed as historic monuments.
The central Vendome column was built in 1810 on the site of Louis XIV statue destroyed during the Revolution. Its figure is of Napoleon dressed as Caesar, later taken down and replaced with one of him dressed in his army clothes. Not good enough the original was replaced in 1863 only to be brought down again by the " Communards" in 1871, finally restored in 1873 and hasn't moved since.

At no. 13 is the Ministry of Justice upon whose walls can be seen one of the two lasting standard metres, moved here in 1848.

At no. 1 is the Hotel de Vendome and we find on its walls a plaque atteting to the fact that this is where the Embassy of the Republic of Texas was housed for two years. France was the first country to recognise the Texan independance.

Tuileries is the closest metro.