Place Nationale, Historic square in Montauban, France

Place Nationale is a historic square featuring double rows of covered arcades on all sides. Pink brick buildings rise three stories above ground level, creating a unified design with continuous shelter underneath the arches.

The square was founded in 1144 and took its current form after major fires in 1614 and 1649. These disasters prompted substantial reconstruction during the 17th century that shaped the space as it exists today.

Each arcade side carried the name of the goods sold there: wheat to the north, cloth to the south, fruit to the east, clogs to the west. The consular house kept the reference weights and measures. A pillory stood before the west arcade until 1792, when it was replaced by a wooden cross.

The square is paved in light-grey stone slabs and darker cobbles, with a line of setts marking the edge. A tall black lamp post on a square brick base stands at the left edge, carrying a no-entry sign and a blue arrow sign. Chairs, tables and umbrellas occupy parts of the surface, and the arcades provide shelter around the perimeter.

The pillory stood in front of the western arcade, the Couvert des Sabots, where shoes were sold; in 1792 it was replaced by a wooden cross. The consular house on the square kept the reference weights and measures used to check traders' instruments.