About this place
Laid out between 1756 and 1765 to designs by the architect Jean-Gabriel Legendre, the Place Royale is Reims at its most refined, a harmonious classical square of matching facades, ground floor arcades and stone balustrades built during the reign of Louis XV. At its center stands a statue of the king, originally a bronze by the great sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle unveiled in 1765. That first statue was torn down and melted during the French Revolution in 1792, and the pedestal stood empty for a generation until Pierre Cartellier's replacement was raised in 1819, showing Louis XV in Roman dress. The square has even deeper roots, sitting directly over the ancient Roman forum of Durocortorum, so that this same patch of ground has served as a civic heart for two thousand years.
Key facts
- 1765 year — The square was completed and Pigalle's bronze statue of Louis XV unveiled
- 1819 year — Cartellier's replacement statue of Louis XV was raised after the Revolution
- 9 years — Roughly the time it took to lay out the square, from 1756
📍 Place Royale, 51100, Reims