Barrière de Chartres, Historical monument in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France

Barrière de Chartres is a preserved tollgate in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, near Parc Monceau. It has a round stone form with a small dome and a modest columned top that faces the street.

Claude Nicolas Ledoux built the structure in 1787 as part of the wall of the Fermiers généraux, a ring of tollgates around Paris. When the wall was demolished in the 19th century, this rotunda survived because it stood next to what became a public park.

The name of this spot comes from the old road leading toward the city of Chartres, a route once marked by this very gate. Today, passersby often notice its quiet presence at the edge of Parc Monceau, where joggers and families move around a piece of the old city boundary.

You can see the structure from the sidewalk while walking around the Place de la République-Dominicaine, without needing to enter any building. A gentle stroll through the nearby park makes it easy to combine a look at the rotunda with a break on a bench.

The top floor was once set aside for the Duke of Orléans, who owned the nearby Folie de Chartres estate. From that upper room he could look out over the plain outside the old city wall, a private view now lost among apartment buildings.