PLACE DES VOSGES, A SYMBOL OF MONARCHY
All important Parisian places* copy or adapt its design, as do certain provincial towns and foreign capitals
*The French term "place" is not translatable. These pages put it in italics.
Place Royale in 1709, no more information / zoom
First called place Royale,* it is so amiably grandiose that the New York Times chose it to announce the European Union's reopening after the lockdowns.
*The name was changed to "place des Vosges" to honor the first region to send taxes to the Revolutionary government (in 1791).
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Earlier open spaces (markets, cemeteries, the space in front of City Hall) had appeared spontaneously. This is the first to be created deliberately.
(Begun in 1605, inaugurated in 1612)
Paris in 1530 / zoom |
Innovation took place on a periphery, with its available land. Favoring that decision was a palace demolished by Henri II's widow after he died there (in 1559).
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Its design symbolizes empowered monarchy:
The Carrousel at place Royale in 1612 by Matthäus Merian / zoom |
Inauguration (in 1612)
- The first straight street, glimpsed in the background, leads to the "king's pavilion:"
- A public space toward which the streets converge: The king is at the heart of all.
- Straight streets: The king assures stability and order.
- Homogeneous facades: All are subject to the king.
- A power symbol is in the center: Until the Revolution, it is an equestrian statue of the reigning king.
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The place had no statue until 1643:
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