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Discover Paris in all its splendour with our Parisi Tour. Accompanied by a passionate local guide, explore the picturesque streets and famous monuments of the City of Light. Enjoy champagne and macaroons. Total flexibility with pick-up and drop-off included.

The French capital has five royal squares: Place des Vosges, Place Dauphine, Place Vendôme, Place des Victoires and Place de la Concorde. We'll be looking at the history of those that have best survived the ravages of time.

But what is a royal square? The simple idea of building a square with a statue of the king at its centre. It is often said that the Placa Mayor in Madrid, built at the very end of the 16th century, was the first of its kind. The Plaça des Vosges was built only a few years later, in 1604. At the time, it was known as Place Royale. It was renamed Place des Vosges because it was the first département to pay the tax to support the revolutionary army (or simply its taxes).

Initially, it was intended to house craftsmen and merchants under arcades. However, given the exorbitant construction costs and the beauty of the complex, it was eventually the great families who settled here. The Hôtel de Sully (you can visit the garden!), King Henri IV's first adviser, Victor Hugo's house (which is free to visit!), the great restaurants (including the three-star Ambroisie, which has welcomed the Clintons and Obamas), and more, all bear witness to this.

The façades are protected (you are not allowed to touch them!). The buildings are made of brick, stone and slate. As brick is an expensive material, you'll notice that some buildings have been given the illusion of brick, with the brick painted directly onto the stone. This makes for a particularly well-preserved architectural ensemble, just like the sumptuous private mansions just a stone's throw away in the Marais district.

The perfectly preserved Place Vendôme was inaugurated in 1686. Formerly the Place Louis-Le-Grand, it has been home to the Vendôme Column since 1810. This work of art (replacing the statue of Louis XIV) was inspired by the Trajan column in Rome, and depicts Napoleon's great battles in bas-relief. The sculpture of Napoleon I as a Roman emperor, by Auguste Dumont (the sculptor of the "Génie" of the July column on the Place de la Bastille!), adorns its top.

The rigorous architectural programme guarantees the unity of the town houses and therefore of the square: railings, mouldings, sculptures, window shapes... The only elements that differ from one building to another are the sculpted portraits that can be admired above the doors. In all, 158 portraits - all unique - sculpted by the same artist.