Place Vendôme - 75001 Paris
Louvre, Opéra - Grands Boulevards
Place Vendôme was built on the orders of Louis XIV, as a grandiose setting that would embody absolute power in the very heart of Paris. Napoleon replaced the statue of the king, dismantled in 1792, with a bronze column made from 1,200 enemy canons. During the Second Empire, however, the octagonal square – a marvel of classical urban design – gradually became a showcase for luxury goods rather than political power. The world’s great jewellery brands have turned Place Vendôme and the adjoining Rue de la Paix into one continuous stream of window displays filled with sparkling diamonds, rubies and emeralds.
