Place de la République

Place de la République

Monument at the centre of the Place de la République
Length 283 m (928 ft)
Width 119 m (390 ft)
Arrondissement 3rd, 10th, 11th
Quarter Arts-et-Métiers
Enfants-Rouges
Porte-Saint-Martin
Folie-Méricourt
From Boulevard du Temple
To Boulevard Saint-Martin
Construction
Denomination 7 May 1879

The Place de la République is a square in Paris, located on the border between the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. The square has an area of 3.4 ha (8.4 acres).[1] It is named after the French Republic and was called the Place du Château-d'Eau until 1879. The Métro station of République lies beneath the square.

History

The location of the Place corresponds to the bastion of the gate of the Temple in the wall of Charles V (raised between 1356 and 1383). Decorated in 1811 with a fountain called the Château-d'Eau, designed by Pierre-Simon Girard, it took its current shape under the Second French Empire as part of Baron Hausmann's city renovation scheme. Most of the theatres of boulevard du Temple were demolished for this project.

The "caserne" du Prince Eugène, a military barracks later named the caserne du Château d'Eau, then the caserne Vérines, was erected by Degrove on this site, in 1854, to replace the former summer exhibition of Wauxhall and the famous diorama where Daguerre, one of the inventors of the photograph, had given his fifteen-minute demonstrations. Built with the foresight to house 3200 men, it has, since 1947, housed the French Republican Guard.

Gabriel Davioud, Paris's official city architect, added to the square, building the Magasins réunis along its whole north side in 1866. He also built a second fountain, one decorated with bronze lions. (Girard's fountain was judged insufficient for the site, but it was salvaged and re-erected in 1867 in the market of La Villette).

In 1879, a competition, to design a great monument devoted to the newly proclaimed Third Republic, was won by the Morice brothers, Léopold Morice for the statuary and relief-panels of historic scenes, and his architect brother Charles Morice for the base. Two inauguration ceremonies took place, the first on 14 July 1880 with a gypsum model, and the second on 14 July 1883 with the final version in bronze.[2]

In December 2008 the city of Paris organized a consultation to renovate the Place, and early works begin in July 2011. The goal was to rededicate the public space to pedestrians and cyclists. In this aim, the east side, one-way boulevard of the Place was pedestrianized and the west side of the boulevard become two-ways. Another purpose was to make the site more attractive for shopping users and for department stores.

In January 2015, following the Charlie Hebdo shooting, crowds gathered in the place to express solidarity with the victims.

Metro stations

The Place de la République is:

Located near the Métro station: République.

It is served by lines 3, 5, 8, 9, and 11.

Streets meeting at the Place de la République

References

  1. ↑ "Quelle place de la république pour demain ?". mairie10.paris.fr. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Quand Paris dansait avec Marianne, 1879-1889, exhibition catalog, Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, 1989.

Source

This page is a translation of its French equivalent.

External links

Coordinates: 48°52′02.20″N 2°21′50.60″E / 48.8672778°N 2.3640556°E