Square Charles-de-Gaulle, Garden square in central Toulouse, France
Square Charles-de-Gaulle is a public square of about 5,000 m² in the Capitole district of Toulouse, laid out as an irregular trapezoid. It is bounded by rue Ernest-Roschach, dominated by the east facade of the Capitole and the Tour des Archives, by rue Lafayette to the north, rue d'Alsace-Lorraine to the east and rue du Poids-de-l'Huile to the south. Its paved surface of grey stone slabs holds a long low pale-stone bench on dark metal legs, a dark green kiosk marked "LE PETIT GOURMET" and the yellow M sign of the Capitole metro entrance.
The square was created between 1873 and 1875 as part of urban development along Alsace-Lorraine Street. It replaced an earlier structure and originally had an iron fence that was later removed.
The square holds the Monument to Jean Jaurès, inaugurated on 24 March 1929, a two-metre bronze statue by Henri Parayre and Georges Vivent cast by Louis Roques. Partly melted down in 1942, it was rebuilt in 1946 with the surviving head and reliefs, moved to the Capitole metro entrance in 1993 and to the north of the square in 2015. A granite stele with a bronze medallion of de Gaulle and a Lorraine cross, erected in 1990, stands at the corner of rue du Poids-de-l'Huile and rue d'Alsace-Lorraine.
The square is easily reached by metro line A at the Capitole station or by bus lines in adjacent streets. Bike-sharing stations are available nearby for convenient access.
The square was laid out between 1875 and 1884 on the site of the former Maison commune, the seat of the capitouls and later the mayors of Toulouse. Its iron grille was removed in 1928 to create pavements, and when metro line A was built in 1993 the basin and paths were recreated as before, though the cascade and the fake-rock shell ornament disappeared.
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