Place des Vosges

The oldest square in Paris

Laid out between 1605 and 1612 as the place Royale, it is the oldest square in Paris. Victor Hugo lived here, at no. 6, in the apartment that is now a museum; the former hôtel Marchand at no. 19 is today the Cour des Vosges hotel.

Photo: Alex59300, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It straddles two arrondissements. The pavillon de la Reine, on the north side, belongs to the 3rd, while nos. 6 and 19 are in the 4th. The square also marks the northern edge of the Arsenal, one of the administrative quarters of the 4th.

What to see around the arcades

• The garden. Laid out around the statue of Louis XIII, with four fountains under the trees; children have playgrounds, and dogs stay outside.
• The Maison de Victor Hugo. The writer’s apartment, at no. 6, is now a museum of the City of Paris; its hours, the ticketed period until 22 November 2026 and the new café Papapa are on our Maison de Victor Hugo page.
• The Carnavalet Museum. The museum of the history of Paris, with free permanent collections, stands about 275 metres to the north-west; see the Carnavalet Museum guide.
• The passage to the Hôtel de Sully. In the south-west corner, under the arcades, a passage through the orangery leads into the garden and the courtyard of the Hôtel de Sully, home of the Centre des monuments nationaux, and from there onto rue Saint-Antoine.

Photo: Bruno befreetv, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The square lies within the international tourist zone “Le Marais”, created in 2015, where shops may open on Sundays.

From the Hôtel des Tournelles to the place Royale

The square stands on the site of the Hôtel des Tournelles, where Henri II died in 1559 after a jousting accident. Work began in 1605 under Henri IV and ended in 1612, and the square was inaugurated for the betrothal of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, according to Wikipedia. It was first the place Royale, became the place des Fédérés in 1792, and took its present name in 1800 to honour the département that had been the first to pay its taxes during the Revolution. Its protection as a historic monument dates from 1954.

The square and its statue

The statue of Louis XIII at the centre dates from 1825; the original of 1639 was destroyed during the Revolution. Four fountains, designed by Jean-Pierre Cortot, stand in the garden. The square Louis-XIII has more than 150 lime and chestnut trees, according to paris.fr, which also lists playgrounds, drinking fountains and toilets, and the EcoJardin label; animals are not admitted. The 36 pavilions, nine to a side, share one design of brick, stone and steep slate roofs over ground-floor arcades; the pavillon du Roi closes the south side and the pavillon de la Reine the north.

Who lived here

Wikipedia lists among the residents Victor Hugo, from 1832 to 1848, Madame de Sévigné, born at no. 1 bis in 1626, Marion Delorme and Bossuet. Hugo’s apartment is now the Maison de Victor Hugo, 72 metres from the centre of the square.

Choosing your moment

The square Louis-XIII is open from 8 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. at weekends from 1 to 24 October 2026, according to paris.fr. It closes earlier from the end of October to the end of February and later in summer, and the hours change by period. The arcades are public streets and are accessible at all times, so they can be walked after the garden has closed.

Getting there

Chemin Vert (line 8) is the nearest station, about 278 metres away in a straight line. Bastille (lines 1, 5 and 8) is about 315 metres away, Saint-Paul (line 1) about 334 metres and Bréguet-Sabin (line 5) about 355 metres.

Combining the visit with a walk

From the middle of the square, the distances are straight lines between our coordinates, and the times add a 1.3 detour factor at 80 metres a minute.

• Maison de Victor Hugo: 72 metres, about 2 minutes.
• Hôtel de Sully: 168 metres, about 3 minutes.
• Carnavalet Museum: 274 metres, about 5 minutes.
• Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis church: 283 metres, about 5 minutes.
• Village Saint-Paul: 332 metres, about 6 minutes.

Sleeping on the square

Of the seventy hotels in our database, only two have an address on the place des Vosges itself, both classified five stars. Le Pavillon de la Reine, at no. 28, has 56 rooms, a spa and a MICHELIN-starred restaurant. Cour des Vosges, at no. 19, has twelve rooms and suites in a listed mansion. The streets around — rue de Birague, rue de Turenne, rue de Jarente — add simpler hotels within a few minutes’ walk, listed below with their distance from the centre of the square. For the full comparison of the five-star hotels, see our luxury hotels in Le Marais; the quarter itself is in our Le Marais guide.

Photo: Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons