Place des Vosges

The oldest planned square in Paris, arcaded in red brick

Area Le Marais
Type Landmark
Time needed 30m

Place des Vosges is the oldest planned square in Paris, built between 1605 and 1612 on the orders of Henri IV, and the model copied by squares across Europe afterwards. Thirty-six near-identical houses of red brick with stone dressings and steep slate roofs stand over a continuous vaulted arcade on all four sides, enclosing a railed garden of lime trees and four fountains. It sits on the border of the 3rd and 4th arrondissements in the Marais. Apart from Victor Hugo's former apartment in one corner, there is nothing to go inside.

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Getting there

Saint-Paul on Métro line 1 is the usual station, about a 5 minute walk east along the rue Saint-Antoine and the rue de Birague, and roughly 5 minutes from Châtelet with no change. Bastille, served by Métro lines 1, 5 and 8, is a similar walk from the east side. Chemin Vert on line 8 is about 5 minutes from the north-west corner. The entrance under the Pavillon du Roi on the south side, reached through the rue de Birague, is the one to use: you come in under the arcade and the square opens in front of you.

What you see

The thing to look at is the square itself, and the way to look at it is a full circuit of the arcade, which is continuous and takes about ten minutes. The brick is partly real and partly painted render on the later houses, which you can see once you know to look. Two pavilions are taller than the rest and break the line: the Pavillon du Roi on the south side and the Pavillon de la Reine on the north, facing each other across the garden. In the middle of the garden is an equestrian statue of Louis XIII, a nineteenth-century replacement for the original destroyed in the Revolution, surrounded by lawns, gravel paths and four plain fountains at the corners. Under the arcades are galleries, antique dealers, a few cafes with tables set out, and in the south-east corner the Maison de Victor Hugo, the apartment where he lived from 1832 to 1848, now a small museum with his furnished rooms and the Chinese drawing room he designed. From the south-west corner a passage leads through the Hôtel de Sully courtyard to the rue Saint-Antoine, which is a good way to leave.

What to pair it with

The Musée Picasso is about five minutes north through the Marais. The Musée Carnavalet is a similar distance, and the Bastille and the Promenade Plantee begin just east of the square.

When to go

Early morning is when the square is empty and the low light comes in under the arcades, and it is the best time by a wide margin. Lunchtime and weekend afternoons bring the crowds and every bench and patch of lawn is taken. Spring and early summer are good for the lime trees in leaf; in winter the trees are pollarded bare and the square looks much more austere, which some people prefer. The garden closes at night while the arcades stay open. Sunday is the busiest day in the Marais generally.

What is hard about it

There is nothing to enter except the Victor Hugo house, so this is a twenty to thirty minute stop and no more; people who build an afternoon round it are disappointed. The garden is small, the lawns are fenced for much of the year, and on a warm weekend it is full. The cafes under the arcade charge tourist prices for an ordinary coffee. The houses are private apartments, so the only interiors you will see are the gallery and shop premises at ground level. Restoration scaffolding on one range or another is common and spoils the symmetry that is the whole point of the place.

Common questions

How long do you need at Place des Vosges?

Twenty to thirty minutes for a circuit of the arcade and a sit in the garden. Add 45 minutes if you go into the Maison de Victor Hugo.

Is the Victor Hugo house worth it?

Yes if you have any interest in him or in nineteenth-century interiors; the permanent rooms are normally free to enter with temporary exhibitions ticketed. It is small and takes under an hour.

Can you go inside the houses?

No, they are private residences. The arcade at ground level holds galleries, shops and cafes that anyone can walk into.