Place Vendôme

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  • Address
    Place Vendôme, 1er
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  • Transport
    underground rail: Tuileries, Opéra

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Lonely Planet review

This octagonal place , and the arcaded and colonnaded buildings around it, were built between 1687 and 1721. In 1796, Napoleon married Josephine in the building at No 3. Today, the buildings around the square house the posh Hôtel Ritz Paris and some of the city's most fashionable boutiques. The Ministry of Justice has been at Nos 11 to 13 since 1815.

In the centre, the 43.5m-tall Colonne Vendôme (Vendôme Column) consists of a stone core wrapped in a 160m-long bronze spiral made from 1250 Austrian and Russian cannons captured by Napoleon two centuries ago at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805. The bas-reliefs on the spiral celebrate Napoleon's victories between 1805 and 1807. The statue on top, originally thought to be of Charlemagne, depicts Napoleon as a Roman emperor.