Place de la Republique is one of the most politically significant squares in Paris, and has a massive “Marianne” (a symbol of France) monument at the center of it.
The square location is roughly the same, where the famous “Temple Fortress” used to be. That fortress originally belonged to King Charles V’s defensive wall of Paris, built from 1356-1383.
PHOTO: Republic square’s Marianne monument was added to the square in 1883, and made by Morice brothers…with Leopold (the sculptor) creating the statues and Charles (the architect) designing the pedestal for the monument.
PHOTO: Statues on the monument are allegorical to the national slogan of France: “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” (“Freedom, Equality, and Brotherhood”). Pictured above is “Fraternité”, or “Brotherhood”.
When Temple Fortress was demolished (in 1811), the resulting empty square first got a new fountain by Pierre-Simon Girard, called “Château-d’Eau”.
Not long after, the square got a new shape, during the Second French Empire, when Paris was modernized and rebuilt under the leadership of Baron Hausmann.
As part of that rebuilding, military barracks were built next to the Republic square.
These barracks, originally “caserne de la Château d’Eau“, but today “caserne Vérines“, are where the French Republican Guard has been located since 1947.
With all of the rebuilding and new structures adjacent to the square, Château d’Eau was considered too small, and luckily, instead of being demolished, it was moved (in 1867) to its current location, to the Place Félix-Éboué.
Place de la Republique
Address: 9, Place de la République, 75003 Paris, France
Because of the square’s name (“Republic Square“) and the symbolism of the “Marianne” monument, the place is today a popular location for Parisians to have public demonstrations.