Place Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is the starting point of the Rue de la Paix. Its regular architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and pedimented screens canted across the corners give the rectangular Place Vendôme the aspect of an octagon.

After some false starts, the Place was laid out in 1702 as a monument to the glory of the armies of Louis XIV, the Grand Monarque and called Place des Conquêtes, to be renamed Place Louis le Grand, when the conquests proved temporary; an equestrian statue of the king was set up in its center. Napoleon erected the present column, modelled after Trajan's Column, to celebrate the victory of Austerlitz; its spiralling veneers of bas-relief bronze plates were made out of cannon taken from the combined armies of Europe, according to his propaganda.

The Place Venôome has been famous for its fashionable and deluxe hotels: The Hôtel Ritz Paris, which is the Ritz, the Park Hyatt Vendôme, and the Bristol, which Edward VII preferred, now called the Vendôme. Many famous dress designers have had their salons in the square.

view the official website for the Place Vendôme.