The Place des Pyramides is a public square in the
1st arrondissement of Paris, France. It is located in the middle of the
Rue de Rivoli, at its intersection with the Rue des Pyramides and the Avenue du General Lemonnier, at the eastern end of the
Tuileries Garden
The Tuileries Garden (, ) is a public garden between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was opened to the public in ...
.
The square was named for the Rue des Pyramides, the street leading into it, itself named for the
Battle of the Pyramids, a
Napoleonic
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of mi ...
victory achieved in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
in 1798.
Description
A
riding academy
An equestrian facility is created and maintained for the purpose of accommodating, training or competing equids, especially horses. Based on their use, they may be known as a barn, stables, or riding hall and may include commercial operations de ...
under
Antoine de Pluvinel,
squire
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Boys served a knight as an attendant, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armour.
Terminology
''Squire'' ...
to
Henry III,
Henry IV and
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown.
...
, was set up in this area in the 16th century. Known as "Le Pluvinel", this was the forerunner of the classical
equestrian school, and it is commemorated by a plaque above the entrance to the
Hôtel Regina restauran
The gilded bronze
equestrian statue
An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...
of
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
on this square was produced by
Emmanuel Frémiet in 1874.
Image:Paris_75001_Place_des_Pyramides_Jeanne_d'Arc_equestre_by_Frémiet_S1.jpg, ''Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
'' statue on the Place des Pyramides
File:La place des Pyramides - Giuseppe De Nittis.jpg, Giuseppe De Nittis, ''Place des Pyramides'', 1876
External links
Place des Pyramideson Insecula (archived 13 February 2009)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Place Des PyramiDes
Buildings and structures in the 1st arrondissement of Paris
Pyramides