Place des Terreaux

The centrepiece of the Presqu'île's beautiful central square is a 19th-century fountain made of 21 tonnes of lead and sculpted by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (of Statue of Liberty fame). The four horses pulling the chariot symbolise rivers galloping seawards. The Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall) fronting the square was built in 1655 but given its present ornate facade in 1702. When Daniel Buren's polka-dot 'forest' of 69 granite fountains (embedded in the ground across much of the square) are on, join the kids in a mad dash as the water dances up, down, disappears for a second and gushes back again.