A panoramic view of the Place Vendôme , Paris Paris is known as the City of Light . Part of the credit for this sobriquet can be ascribed to long-standing city ordinances that have restricted the height of buildings in the central city. A more modest skyline, interrupted only by the Eiffel Tower, the Tour Montparnasse, Sacré-Coeur , and a few church steeples, lends this city's citizens virtually unfettered access to natural light. Nonetheless, another significant contributor to the feeling of openness in Paris is the vast number of public spaces, both green and paved, interspersed throughout all twenty arrondissements, that afford the citizen the opportunity to escape, if only momentarily, his urban environment and partake of air and light like his cousins in the provinces. The following article (and its accompanying list) concern the public spaces known as squares and places in Paris .
Terminology The terminology of open spaces in Paris (square vs. place ) may present some confusion to English speakers.
In the French language, the term square (a loan-word from English) refers to a small urban green space that is not large enough to be called a parc (the grassy variety) or a bois (the wooded variety), and is not sufficiently formal in its plantings to be called a jardin . (For a list of these spaces, see List of parks and gardens in Paris .) In English this may be called a "pocket park," a "green" as in "the village green", or even a "square", as in the squares of Savannah, Georgia .
Conversely, the term place in French refers to a city square which usually does not include green space and may be paved. In the English-speaking world, this is usually termed a "square" such as Times Square in New York or Trafalgar Square in London.
In summary, the French have squares that might be, but are usually not, called "squares" in English, and they have places that are almost always called "squares" in English.
Squares and places The Church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul within the square of the same name facing the Place Franz Liszt The Place Franz Liszt seen from the Church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul within the square of the same name To make things a bit more complicated, in Paris, a "square" (small green space) may abut a place (large public square), or a "square" may, in fact, be contained within a place . The "square" and the associated place typically have different names. Some examples are:
Square des Innocents and Place Joachim du Bellay Square Marcel Pagnol and Place Henri Bergson Square des Batignolles and Place Charles Fillion Square Berlioz and Place Adolphe Max Square de la Trinité and Place d'Estienne-d'Orves Square Saint-Vincent-de-Paul and Place Franz Liszt Square Monseigneur Maillet and Place des Fêtes Square Thomas Jefferson and Place des États-Unis Rarely, the "square" and its associated place share a name:
Square Ferdinand Brunot and Place Ferdinand Brunot Square de la Chapelle and Place de la Chapelle Finally, there are some pairs (of squares and places ) where the name of the square is a bit artificial, but the relationship is, nonetheless, clear:
Square de la place André-Masson Square de la place Dauphine Square de la place de Bitche Square de la place de la Bataille de Stalingrad Square de la place de la Nation Square de la place de la Réunion Square de la place d'Italie Square de la place du Commerce Square de la place Étienne Pernet Square de la place Pasdeloup
Characteristics of Parisian squares Model sailboats on the Grand Bassin of the Jardin du Luxembourg , similar to those found in the Tuileries Garden In all Parisian squares, gardens, and parks, you will find areas reserved for children, with playgrounds, sandboxes, see-saws, swings, merry-go-rounds, and the like. Some spaces offer a wider range of activities; some random examples are: toy boats to sail, as well as sulky and go-cart rentals in the Jardin du Luxembourg ; ping-pong tables in the Square Emile-Chautemps and the Jardin de l'Observatoire; pony or carriage rides at the Parc Monceau ; tennis courts, boules, and croquet at the Jardin du Luxembourg ; Guignol marionette puppet shows at the Jardin du Ranelagh; roller skating at the Parc Montsouris ; a bee-keeping school at the Jardin du Luxembourg ; bandstands featuring spring and summer concerts at the Square du Temple and the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont , etc.
These open spaces also beckon visitors just to wander and daydream, and many offer lush green lawns for sitting, taking a rest, or perhaps a picnic. One is advised, nonetheless, to watch for signs posted on lawns that are accessible to the public: pelouses autorisées (lawns authorized for use) and "pelouses au repos" (lawns for resting).
List of squares and places in Paris Place Charles de Gaulle , Paris As of 1 May 2008, the city of Paris acknowledged the following public squares (in the broader 'English' sense of the word). A citizen of Paris will notice, of course, that the following alphabetized list includes both "squares" (smaller green spaces) and places (larger urban landmarks), which have been segregated from one another within this single list.
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A Place de l'Abbé-Basset Place de l'Abbé-Franz-Stock Place de l'Abbé-Georges-Hénocque Place de l'Abbé-Jean-Lebeuf Place des Abbesses Place d'Acadie Place de l'Adjudant-Vincenot Place Adolphe-Chérioux Place Adolphe-Max Place Adrien-Oudin Place Aimé-Maillart Place Albert-Cohen Place Albert-Kahn Place Albert-Londres Place Alfred-Dreyfus Place Alfred-Kastler Place Alfred-Sauvy Place d'Aligre Place d'Alleray Place de l'Alma Place des Alpes Place Alphonse-Allais Place Alphonse-Deville Place Alphonse-Humbert Place Alphonse-Laveran Place Amédée-Gordini Place de l'Amiral-de-Grasse Place de l'Amphithéâtre Place André-Honnorat Place André-Malraux Place André-Masson Place André-Tardieu Place des Antilles Place d'Anvers Place de l'Argonne Place Armand-Carrel Place Arnault-Tzanck Place de l'Assommoir Place Auguste-Baron Place Auguste-Métivier Square de l'Abbé-Georges-Hénocque Square de l'Abbé-Esquerre Square de l'Abbé-Migne Square Adanson Square Adolphe-Chérioux Square d'Ajaccio Square Alban-Satragne Square Albert-Besnard Square Alberto-Giacometti Square Albert-Schweitzer Square Albert-Tournaire Square Alésia-Ridder Square Alexandre 1er de Yougoslavie Square Alexandre-et-René-Parodi Square Alexandre-Luquet Square Alex-Biscarre Square Alexis-Clerel de Tocqueville Square Alfred-Capus Square d'Algérie Square d'Alleray - La Quintinie Square d'Alleray Labrouste-Saint-Amand Square Amadou-Hampate Ba Square des Amandiers Square de l'Amérique latine Square Amiraux-Boinod Square André-Lefèbvre Square André-Ulmann Square Anna-de Noailles Square Antoine-Blondin Square d'Anvers Square des arènes de Lutèce - René-Capitan Square Aristide-Cavaillé-Col Square de l'Aspirant-Dunand Square Auguste-Mariette-Pacha Square Auguste-Renoir Square aux Artistes
B Place de la Bastille , Paris Square Barye Square du Bataclan Square des Batignolles Square Bayen Square Béla-Bartók Square Belleville - Télégraphe Square de Berlin Square Blomet Square Boucicaut Square Boulay-Level Square Boutroux Square Bréguet-Sabin
C Place de la Concorde , Paris Place du Caire Place du Calvaire Place Cambronne Place Camille-Claudel Place Camille-Jullian Place du Canada Place du Cardinal-Amette Place du Cardinal-Lavigerie Place Carrée Place du Carrousel Place Casadesus Place de Catalogne Place du Chancelier-Adenauer Place de la Chapelle Place Charles-Bernard Place Charles de Gaulle Place Charles-Dullin Place Charles-Fillion Place Charles-Garnier Place Charles-Michels Place Charles-Vallin Place Chassaigne-Goyon Place du Château-Rouge Place du Châtelet Square Caffiéri Square Cambronne Square du Caporal Peugeot Square du Cardinal Petit de Julleville Square du Cardinal Verdier Square du Cardinal-Wyszinski Square Carlo-Sarrabezolles Square Carpeaux Square Castagnary Square des Chamaillards Square du Chanoine-Viollet Square Charles-Hermitte Square Charles-Péguy Square Charles-Victor-Langlois Square Claude-Bernard Square Claude-Debussy Square Claude-Nicolas-Ledoux Square du Clos Feuquières Square Colbert Square Constantin-Pecqueur Square Couperin Square Courteline Square Curial Square Cyprian-Norwid
D Place Dauphine , Paris Place du Docteur-Félix-Lobligeois Place du Docteur-Hayem Place du Docteur-Navarre Place du Docteur-Paul-Michaux Place du Docteur-Yersin Place de Dublin Place Dulcie-September Place Dupleix Square Dampierre-Rouvet Square Denis-Poulot Square des Deux-Nèthes Square du docteur Antoine-Béclère Square du docteur Calmette Square du Docteur Grancher Square du Docteur Navarre Square du docteur Variot Square des docteurs Dejérine Square Dupleix Square Duranton
E Square des Épinettes , Paris Place de l'École Place de l'École-Militaire Place de l'Édit-de-Nantes Place Édith-Piaf Place Edmond-Michelet Place Edmond-Rostand Place Édouard-Renard Place Édouard-VII Place de l'Église-d'Auteuil Place de l'Église-de-L'Assomption Place El-Salvador Place Émile-Goudeau Place Émile-Landrin Place Émile-Mâle Place Emmanuel-Levinas Place Ernest-Denis Place de l'Escadrille-Normandie-Niemen Place d'Estienne-d'Orves Place de l'Estrapade Place des États-Unis Place Étienne-Pernet Place de l'Europe Square des Écrivains-Combattants-Morts-pour-la-France Square Édouard-Vaillant Square de l'église Notre-Dame-de-la-Croix Square Élisa-Borey Square Émile-Borel Square Émile-Chautemps Square Émile-Cohl Square Emmanuel-Fleury Square des Épinettes Square Ernest-Chausson Square d'Estienne d'Orves Square Eugène-Varlin Square Eugénie-Cotton Square de l'Évangile
F Place de Fontenoy , Paris Place Falguière Place Félix-Éboué Place Ferdinand-Brunot Place Fernand-Mourlot Place des Fêtes Place de Finlande Place de la Fontaine-aux-Lions Place de Fontenoy Place Francis-Poulenc Place François-Ier Place Franz-Liszt Place Fréhel Square Félix-Desruelles Square Félix-Faure Square Ferdinand-Brunot Square Florence-Blumenthal Square de la Folie-Régnault Square de la Fondation Rothschild Square Francis-Lemarque Square Francis-Poulenc Square Frédéric-Bazille Square Frédérick-Lemaître Square Frédéric-Rossif
G Place du Général-Catroux, Paris Place Gabriel-Péri Place Gaillon Place Gambetta Place de la Garenne Place du Général-Beuret Place du Général-Brocard Place du Général-Catroux Place du Général-Cochet Place du Général-Gouraud Place du Général-Ingold Place du Général-Koenig Place du Général-Monclar Place du Général-Patton Place du Général-Stefanik Place du Général-Tessier-de-Marguerittes Place des Généraux-de-Trentinian Place Georges-Berry Place Georges-Guillaumin Place Georges-Mulot Place Georges-Pompidou Place Gilbert-Perroy Place Goldoni Place des Grès Place du Guatemala Place du Guignier Place Gustave-Toudouze Square Gabriel-Pierne Square Garibaldi Square Gaston-Baty Square du Général-Anselin Square George-Méliès Square Georges-Cain Square Gerber Square Georges-Lamarque Square Ginette-Neveu Square Godefroy-Cavaignac Square des Grès Square Gustave-Mesureur
H Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville , Paris Place du Havre Place Hébert Place Henri-Bergson Place Henri-Frenay Place Henri-Langlois Place Henri-Matisse Place Henri-Mondor Place Henri-Queuille Place Henri-Rollet Place Henry-de-Montherlant Place Henry-Dunant Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville Place Hubert-Monmarché Square Hector-Berlioz Square Hélène-Boucher Square Héloïse et Abélard Square Henri et Achille-Duchène Square Henri-Bataille Square Henri-Cadiou Square Henri-Christiné Square Henri-Collet Square Henri-Galli Square Henri-Huchard Square Henri-Karcher Square Henri-Rousselle Square Honoré-Champion
I Place d'Iéna Place Igor-Stravinsky Place de l'Île-de-la-Réunion Place de l'Île-de-Sein Place de l'Institut Place des Insurgés-de-Varsovie Place des Invalides Place d'Israël Place d'Italie Square de l'île de France
J Place Jean-Monnet, Paris Place Jacob-Kaplan Place Jacques-Bainville Place Jacques-Bonsergent Place Jacques-Copeau Place Jacques-Debu-Bridel Place Jacques-Demy Place Jacques-et-Thérèse-Tréfouel Place Jacques-Froment Place Jacques-Marette Place Jacques-Rouché Place Jacques-Rueff Place Jan-Karski Place Jean-Baptiste-Clément Place Jean-Lorrain Place Jean-Marais Place Jean-Monnet Place Jeanne d'arc Place Jean-Paul II Place Jean-Paul-Sartre -et-Simone-de-Beauvoir Place Jean-Rostand Place Jean-Vilar Place Joachim-du-Bellay Place Joffre Place Johann-Strauss Place de Joinville Place José-Marti Place Joséphine-Baker Place José-Rizal Place Jules-Hénaffe Place Jules-Joffrin Place Jules-Renard Place Jules-Rimet Place Jules-Senard Place Jussieu Square Jacques-Antoine Square Jacques-Audiberti Square Jacques-Bidault Square Jan-Doornik Square Jean-XXIII Square Jean-Aicard Square Jean-Cocteau Square Jean-Leclaire Square Jean-Morin Square Jean-Moulin Square Jehan-Rictus Square Jérôme-Bellat Square de Jessaint Square des Jonquilles Square Jules-Ferry Square Julia-Bartet Square Juliette-Dodu
K Place Kossuth Place de Kyōto
L Place du Louvre , Paris Place Lachambeaudie Place Le Corbusier Place Léonard-Bernstein Place Léon-Blum Place Léon-Deubel Place Léon-Paul-Fargue Place de Lévis Place du Lieutenant-Stéphane-Piobetta Place Lili-Boulanger Place Lino-Ventura Place Louis-Armand Place Louis-Armstrong Place Louis-Lépine Place Louis-Marin Place du Louvre Place Lucien-Herr Square Lamartine Square Laurent-Prache Square Léon Square Léon-Frapié Square Léon-Gaumont Square Léon-Serpollet Square Léopold-Achille Square Louis XIII Square Louis XVI Square Louise-de Marillac Square Louise-Michel Square Louis-Lumière Square Louis-Majorelle Square Louvois Square Lucien-Fontanarosa
M Place de la Madeleine and Rue Royale, Paris Carré Marigny Place de la Madeleine Place du Maquis-du-Vercors Place Marc-Bloch Place Marcel-Achard Place Marcel-Aymé Place Marcel-Cerdan Place Marcelin-Berthelot Place Marcel-Paul Place du Marché-Sainte-Catherine Place du Marché-Saint-Honoré Place du Maréchal- de-Lattre-de-Tassigny Place du Maréchal-Juin Place Marguerite-de-Navarre Place Maria-Callas Place Marie-de-Miribel Place Marie-Madeleine-Fourcade Place du Maroc Place Martin-Nadaud Place des Martyrs-de-la-Résistance- de-la-Porte-de-Sèvres Place des Martyrs- Juifs-du-Vélodrome-d'Hiver Place Maubert Place Maurice-Barrès Place Maurice-Chevalier Place Maurice-de-Fontenay Place Maurice-Quentin Place Mazas Place de Ménilmontant Place de Mexico Place Michel-Audiard Place Monge Place Monseigneur-Loutil Place de la Montagne-du-Goulet Place de Moro-Giafferi Square de la Madone Square de la mairie du 12e Square Marcel-Bleustein-Blanchet Square Marcel-Mouloudji Square Marcel-Pagnol Square Marcel-Sembat Square Marc-Seguin Square Marguerite-Long Square Marie-Curie Square Marie-Trintignant Square de la Marseillaise Square Maurice-Gardette Square Maurice-Kriegel-Valrimont Square de Ménilmontant et des Saint-Simoniens Square Mercœur Square des Missions Étrangères Square Monseigneur Maillet Square du Mont Cenis Square de la Montgolfière Square Montholon Square de la Moskowa Square des Mûriers
N Place Napoléon-III Place de Narvik Place de la Nation Place Nationale Place Nattier Place du Nicaragua Square Nadar Square Necker
O Place de l'Opéra , Paris Square Olivier-Noyer-Leonidas Square des Ormeaux Square Ozanam
P Parvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul-II , Paris Parvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul-II Place Pablo-Picasso Place du Palais-Bourbon Place du Palais-Royal Place du Panthéon Place du Paraguay Place Pasdeloup Place de Passy Place Paul-Beauregard Place Paul-Claudel Place Paul-Éluard Place Paul-Léautaud Place Paul-Painlevé Place Paul-Reynaud Place Paul-Signac Place Paul-Verlaine Place du Père-Chaillet Place du Père-Marcellin-Champagnat Place du Père-Teilhard-de-Chardin Place du Pérou Place du Petit-Pont Place des Petits-Pères Place Pierre-Brisson Place Pierre-Dux Place Pierre-Emmanuel Place Pierre-Lafue Place Pierre-Lampué Place Pierre-Lazareff Place Pierre-Mac-Orlan Place Pierre-Vaudrey Place Pigalle Place Pinel Place du Pont-Neuf Place de Port-au-Prince Place de la Porte-d'Auteuil Place de la Porte-de-Bagnolet Place de la Porte-de-Champerret Place de la Porte-de-Châtillon Place de la Porte-de-Montreuil Place de la Porte-de-Pantin Place de la Porte-de-Passy Place de la Porte-de-Saint-Cloud Place de la Porte-de-Vanves Place de la Porte-de-Versailles Place de la Porte-Maillot Place de la Porte-Molitor Place Possoz Place du Président-Édouard-Herriot Place du Président-Mithouard Place Prosper-Goubaux Place du Puits-de-L'Ermite Place des Pyramides Square Pablo-Casals Square Paganini Square de la Paix Square du palais Galliera Square du passage Moncey Square Paul-Gilot Square Paul-Grimault Square Paul-Langevin Square Paul-Painlevé Square Paul-Paray Square Paul-Robin Square Pauly Square des Périchaux Square Petit Square du Petit Bois Square Pierre-de-Gaulle Square de la place André-Masson Square de la Place-Dauphine Square de la place de Bitche Square de la place de la Bataille de Stalingrad Square de la place de la Nation Square de la place de la Réunion Square de la place d'Italie Square de la place du Commerce Square de la place Étienne Pernet Square de la place Pasdeloup Square des Poètes Square du port de l'Hôtel de Ville Square de la Porte de la Plaine Square de la Porte de la Villette
Q Square du quai de la Gironde Square du quai de la Loire Square du quai de la Seine
R Square Robert Schuman, Paris Place Raoul-Dautry Place Raoul-Follereau Place de la Reine-Astrid Place René-Cassin Place de la République Place de la République-de-L'Équateur Place de la République-de-Panamá Place de la République-Dominicaine Place de la Résistance Place de la Réunion Place de Rhin-et-Danube Place Richard-Baret Place Richard-de-Coudenhove-Kalergi Place de Rio-de-Janeiro Place Robert-Desnos Place Robert-Guillemard Place Rochambeau Place Rodin Place de la Rotonde Place de Roubaix Place de Rungis Place Rutebeuf Square Rachmaninov Square Raoul-Follereau Square Raoul-Nordling Square Raymond-Queneau Square Raymond-Souplex Square Rébeval Square des Recollets Square Réjane Square René-Le Gall Square René Viviani Square Robert-Bajac Square Robert-Blache Square Robert-Montagne Square Robert-Schuman Square Roger-Stéphane Square de la Roquette Square de la rue Ortolan
S Place de la Sorbonne, Paris Place Saint-André-des-Arts Place Saint-Augustin Place Saint-Blaise Place Saint-Charles Place Sainte-Geneviève Place Sainte-Marthe Place Sainte-Opportune Place Saint-Estèphe Place Saint-Fargeau Place Saint-Ferdinand Place Saint-Georges Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés Place Saint-Gervais Place Saint-Jacques Place Saint-Jean Place Saint-Michel Place Saint-Pierre Place Saint-Sulpice Place Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin Place de Santiago-du-Chili Place des Saussaies Place de Séoul Place Skanderbeg Place de la Sorbonne Place Souham Place Stuart-Merrill Place Suzanne-Valadon Square Saint-Ambroise Square Saint-Bernard Square Sainte-Hélène Square Saint-Éloi Square Sainte-Odile Square Saint-Gilles - Grand Veneur Square Saint-Lambert Square Saint-Laurent Square Saint-Médard Square de la Salamandre Square Samuel-De-Champlain Square Samuel-Rousseau Square Santiago du Chili Square Sarah-Bernhardt Square Scipion Square du Serment-de-Koufra Square Séverine Square Sorbier Square Suzanne-Buisson
T Square Taras-Chevtchenko Square du Tchad Square du Temple Square Thomas-Jefferson Square Tolstoï Square de la tour Saint-Jacques Square Trousseau
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V Place des Vosges , Paris Place de Valenciennes Place Valhubert Place de Valois Place de Varsovie Place Vauban Place Vendôme Place de Vénétie Place du Vénézuela
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Y Place Yvon-et-Claire-Morandat
See also
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Squares in Paris .