Place Vendôme

Place Vendôme was built on the orders of Louis XIV as a stately setting that embodied the absolute power in the heart of Paris. Napoleon replaced the king's statue, which had been dismantled in 1792, with a bronze column made of 1,200 enemy cannons; During the Second Empire, the octagonal square - a classic urban design marvel - gradually became a display of luxury goods rather than political power, as major jewelry brands transformed this square and the adjacent avenue La Baie into windows filled with sparkling diamonds, rubies and emeralds.