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The Place Charles de Gaulle, pronounced: [plas ʃaʁl də gol], historically known as the Place de l'Étoile (pronounced: [plas də letwal]), is a large road junction in Paris, France, the meeting point of twelve straight avenues (hence its historic name, which translates as "Square of the Star") including the Champs-Élysées which continues to the east. It was renamed in 1970 following the death of General and President Charles de Gaulle. It is still often referred to by its original name, and the nearby metro station retains the designation Charles de Gaulle - Étoile.
Paris Axe historique ("historical axis") cuts through the Arc de Triomphe, which stands at the centre of the Place de l'Étoile.
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The original name of the area was the Butte Chaillot ("Chaillot mound", named after the locality). At the time it was the point of convergence of several hunting trails. The Marquis de Marigny constructed monumental roadworks, completed in 1777, on the mound when he was establishing the plantations along the Champs Élysées. This work included paving of the road in the form of a star, as it still exists today. The junction became known as the Place de l'Étoile. There is no pedestrian access to the Arc de Triomphe from any of the twelve avenues as there is constant movement of automobile traffic on and around the road junction, but an underpass is accessible to the Arc de Triomphe.
In 1787, during the construction of the Wall of the Farmers-General (Mur des Fermiers généraux), la Barrière de l'Étoile (also known as the Barrière de Neuilly) was built to the design of Claude Nicolas Ledoux for the collection of the octroi tax at the entrance to Paris. The wall and the two buildings built on either side of the Place de l'Étoile were demolished in the nineteenth century.
The Place de l'Étoile and the avenues leading to it were extensively redesigned as part of Baron Haussmann's urban planning projects.
The twelve avenues, clockwise from the north, are the following:
The place is symmetrical and thus has six axes:
The Place de l'Étoile (as well as the Arc de Triomphe) is split between the VIIIe, XVIe and the XVIIe arrondissements of Paris:
The square is surrounded by two streets forming a circle around it: the rue de Presbourg and the rue de Tilsitt which have been so named since 1864, after diplomatic successes of Napoleon I which led to the signing of the Treaty of Presbourg in 1805 and the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807.
La Place de l'étoile is the title of a novel by French writer Patrick Modiano.
| Located near the metro station: Charles de Gaulle - Étoile. |
There is an urban myth that motor insurance companies will not cover driving around the Étoile, which is not strictly true. Insurance companies generally cover motor accidents only on the Étoile under a knock-for-knock agreement,[1] whereby each insurance company will pay for losses by its own policyholder, provided that the other party's insurance company agrees to do the same for the other policyholder.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Place_Charles-de-Gaulle_(Paris) Place Charles-de-Gaulle (Paris)] at Wikimedia Commons