Place Dauphine

The Place Dauphine was established between 1607 and 1610, at a time when the Place Royale was still being developed. As one of the primary urban initiatives of King Henri IV, its location was carved out of the western section of the garden within the walled area called the Palais de la Cité, a place where Capetian kings once resided before the establishment of the Louvre. This garden had a pavilion called the Maison des Etuves, which overlooked two river islands, which, at the time, were essentially muddy banks. One of these islands was integrated into the land expansion, stretching the Île de la Cité to the west, forming part of the Pont Neuf (completed in 1606). An equestrian statue of Henri IV was placed on this stretch in 1614, while the other island was cleared.

On March 10, 1607, around 3 acres of land was handed to Achille de Harlay, with the directive to design structures consistent with a unified vision. This vision detailed specific, recurring facades. The overall design comprised a triangular plaza and a series of houses along the rue de Harlay's eastern side. Two entry points were designed: one in the middle of the eastern section, and the other on the west, opening up to the Pont Neuf. The latter entrance was marked by pavilions that faced the bridge and the Henri IV statue on the opposite side.

By 1616, the final house (located on the plaza's southeast corner) was completed. Initially, all these houses had almost identical facades, echoing those of Place Royale but on a humbler scale. Each unit had two arcaded shops on the ground floor, separated by a narrow door leading to an internal courtyard with a staircase that reached two residential levels above. These were constructed using brick with limestone accents. The top floor was an attic with a slanted roof and dormers, similar to those in Place Royale. The difference lay in the single roof covering each range at Place Dauphine and the dormers, which made the separate houses seem interconnected. Despite the consistent facades, the individual houses varied in design and size due to different builders and buyers.

Over the years, the majority of houses around the plaza have undergone significant changes – being heightened, revamped, rebuilt, or replaced with copies of the original designs. Only the two houses at the entrance near Pont Neuf have preserved their initial appearance. During the Revolution in 1792, the plaza was renamed Place Thionville, a title it held until 1814. The eastern section, severely damaged in the 1871 Paris Commune's fires, was removed to offer an unobstructed view of the Palais de Justice.