The work of Hardouin-Mansart, this beautiful spot was designed as the setting for a statue of Louis XIV. Destroyed in the Revolution, the statue has given way to a 130 feet column in imitation of Trajan's Column in Rome, bearing a statue of Napoleon I. This prestigious square is the home of the Ritz, The Ministry of Justice, the house where Chopin died, that where Mesmer worked and numerous famous jewellery houses: Van Cleefs and Arpels, Boucheron, Mauboussin...
With a height of 130 feet, the Austerlitz column is surrounded by a bronze spiral made from the 1,250 cannons captured at Austerlitz. It is decorated with military scenes and feats of the imperial army. At the top is Napoleon in the guise of Caesar, a replica of a work which followed the uncertainties of politics: replaced by Henri IV, then a colossal fleur de lys, then by a Bonaparte as «petit caporal», toppled under the Commune (Courbet paid with his exile), it has now recovered its original appearance.
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