The Place Saint-Michel () is a public square in the

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. It lies on the borderline between the fifth and sixth arrondissements, on the

left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

of the river

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

. It faces the

Île de la Cité The Île de la Cité (; English: City Island, "Island of the City") is one of the two natural islands on the Seine River (alongside, Île Saint-Louis) in central Paris. It spans of land. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of ...

, to which it is linked by the Pont Saint-Michel.

Description

The northern end of the Place Saint-Michel, the end closer to the river, is on the left-bank side of the Pont Saint-Michel, which crosses sixty-two metres of water to reach the island, Île de la Cité. At this point, the Place Saint-Michel is formed by the convergence of four streets: two quais along the Seine, the Quai Saint-Michel and the Quai des Grands-Augustins, and the Boulevard Saint-Michel and the Rue Danton, which arrive at angles. As one proceeds southward along the Rue Danton, addresses on either side of the street are 'Place Saint-Michel' addresses. This continues until one approaches the Rue Saint-André des Arts, which enters from the right, when the addresses become 'Place Saint-André des Arts' addresses. Only south of this square is the name 'Rue Danton' applied. So, one may suppose that the southern end of the Place Saint-Michel is on the street that becomes the Rue Danton, about sixty metres north of the intersection with the Rue Saint-André des Arts. The Place Saint-Michel was enlarged, as part of

Baron Haussmann Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

's restructuring of Paris, to form a suitable bridgehead for the new, wider Pont Saint-Michel. The square's location permits a view of some of the monuments of the

, including

Sainte-Chapelle The Sainte-Chapelle (; ) is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France. Construction b ...

and the Palais de Justice.

Monumental fountain

The Fontaine Saint-Michel (Saint Michael Fountain) was erected in 1860 on a design by Gabriel Davioud. Nine major sculptors participated. At one point during the design process, the fountain's central statue was supposed to depict

Napoleon Bonaparte 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 Military career ...

, but that came under criticism from opponents of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

; it was finally decided that the statue would be an image of

Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

the Archangel, with two dragons that spout water into the fountain and figures of the four classical

cardinal virtues The cardinal virtues are four virtues of mind and character in classical philosophy. They are prudence, Justice (virtue), justice, Courage, fortitude, and Temperance (virtue), temperance. They form a Virtue ethics, virtue theory of ethics. The t ...

Transport links

The Place Saint-Michel has entrances to two underground stations, which are linked below street level. Saint-Michel is on line 4 of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

, whilst Saint-Michel-Notre-Dame is on line B and line C of the Paris Réseau Express Régional (RER).

References

External links

* 1855 establishments in France Buildings and structures in the 5th arrondissement of Paris Buildings and structures in the 6th arrondissement of Paris Latin Quarter, Paris Saint-Michel Odonyms referring to religion {{France-struct-stub