Bourse de commerce, Commercial exchange building in Les Halles, France

The Bourse de Commerce is a circular stone building on rue de Viarmes, its light beige facade pierced by 25 bays and topped by a grey-panelled dome with a thin spire. The west entrance has four fluted Corinthian columns under a pediment with three allegorical figures by Aristide Croisy. Inside, a painted rotunda is ringed by galleries, and the Medici column stands beside the building.

The site held the Hôtel de Soissons, built for Catherine de' Medici from 1574, and demolished in 1748. The City of Paris then erected a circular Halle aux blés in 1763–67 to the design of Nicolas Le Camus de Mézières. After a fire destroyed the wooden dome in 1802, François-Joseph Bélanger replaced it with an iron dome clad in copper. Henri Blondel rebuilt the exchange in 1888–89, keeping the circular plan and dome.

Inside the rotunda, painted panels by Mazerolle, Luminais, Laugée, Clairin and Lucas depict allegories of the four cardinal points and the five continents, while frescoes recount the history of trade between them. The decoration dates from Henri Blondel's 1888–89 rebuilding and was restored in 1998.

The entrance is on Rue de Viarmes, with the Medici column standing just to its left. Inside, the visit follows the rotunda: the painted dome and its glass roof are seen from the exhibition floors, reached by stairs and lifts. The nearest metro stations are Louvre-Rivoli and Les Halles, and Châtelet-Les Halles serves the RER.

The Medici column beside the building is all that remains of Catherine de' Medici's Hôtel de Soissons, demolished in 1748. Built for her astrologer Ruggieri, it held an observation platform at the top. The city bought the column from its first owner, Laurent Destouches, saving it from destruction; a project to move it into the centre of the Halle aux blés was abandoned.