THE LONG, WIDE, STRAIGHT STREETS OF THE 17TH CENTURY WITHOUT EXCEPTION LED TO SYMBOLS OF MONARCHY, AND EXPLAIN A SPECIFICITY THAT GIVES PARIS MUCH OF ITS GRANDEUR
Their point of departure is the medieval space by which pilgrims left the trade route to reach the royal tombs...
The Saint-Denis Basilica, which harbors the tombs, is at the extremity of that expanse.
It inspired the first straight street (toward 1600)...
That draws the eye to an equestrian statue of the reigning king...
Louis XIII
which dominates the first royal square and all that come later:
Place des Vosges (originally place Royale)
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The city's wide, long, straight streets lead the eye to a monument.
In the working-class center and east the streets were built to march troops quickly toward giant voids, where they would assemble while being isolated from the population: That the layout should resemble that of the kings is a coincidence. But in the wealthy west where residents backed conservative government, monarchy did inspire the plan.
In both cases the streets lead to a symbol, heir to the equestrian statues of the reigning king that dominated their places.*
*Italicized in these pages because they derive from the monarchy and are specifically French, which the word "square" does not express.
- The statue "Homage to the Republic" on place de la République in the east is one example.
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- The Eiffel Tower is another emblem of the Republic, in the west. (Both date from the 1880's and honor the politically conservative republic of the time.)
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