Place des Vosges, Square in Le Marais, Paris, France
Place des Vosges is a square in the Marais district of Paris, arranged as a perfect 140-meter (460-foot) square with a leafy garden at its center. The surrounding 36 brick and stone houses share identical facades, steep slate roofs, and a walkway of red brick arcades at street level.
The square was laid out under Henry IV starting in 1605 and inaugurated in 1612 as Place Royale, with royal pavilions at the north and south ends. It was renamed in 1800 to honor the Vosges region, the first area to pay taxes to the revolutionary government.
Under the vaulted arcades, small art galleries and antique shops open onto the cobbled walkway, their windows showing prints, ceramics, and vintage objects. Visitors often slow down to look at the displays before stepping into the garden, where people read on benches or eat lunch from paper bags.
The central garden is level and easy to enter through gates on each side, with plenty of wooden benches and gravel paths. Early morning or late afternoon offers the calmest moments, since lunchtime and weekends draw the largest crowds here.
In the center of the garden stands a bronze equestrian statue of Louis XIII, a copy made in the 1820s after the original was melted down during the Revolution. The King's and Queen's pavilions, which face each other on opposite sides of the square, are a little taller than the other houses.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
