V.1. MAJESTY ON A HUMAN SCALE, FORGOTTEN GIFT OF KINGS

MENU: Majesty on a human scale

FRANCE'S 17TH-CENTURY KINGS USED URBAN DESIGN AND MONUMENTS TO EMPHASIZE THEIR GROWING POWER

France's first straight street leads to the 12th century Basilica of Saint-Denis and royal mausoleum:

 

Paris's first straight street (toward 1600) looks back to it. It leads to a statue of a king on horseback:

   Rue de Birague (former rue Royale)

The Grand Axis merges with the horizon to symbolize the infinite power of monarchy (toward 1675):

Claude Abron

Those innovations stem from a uniquely powerful monarchy and could not have been born elsewhere.

Yet they go unnoticed.

Main topics

• A parade route changes course

• The milestones' meanings

• A design inconceivable elsewhere

• The royal imprint blossoms

• The curtain falls

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Next,
4.1.1. 
A parade route changes course