Paris - Place Dauphine

Southeast of the Square du Vert-Galant, beyond the Pont Neuf, is Place Dauphine, which dates from the time of Henri IV - one of the finest architectural ensembles of that period in Paris. In 1607 the wealthy Président (Chief Justice) Achille de Harlay was given the site by the king with instructions to build a complex of houses with uniform facades. He built 65 terraced houses of light-colored stone and red brick, with two storys over an arcaded ground floor. The square, named after the Dauphin, the future Louis XIII, soon became the resort of actors, quack doctors, strollers and the merely curious. In 1872 the whole of the east side of the square, on Rue de Harlay, was pulled down and replaced by houses in Neo-Classical style. The only