Fontaine Saint-Michel
Monumental Second Empire fountain where an emperor's vanity became an angel's triumph.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Fontaine Saint-Michel in Paris opens with architect Gabriel Davioud's first plan for the centerpiece of Baron Haussmann's new square in 1858, a statue of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the backlash fierce enough to force a pivot to the Archangel Michael instead. It follows the fountain through the fall of Napoleon III and the Paris Commune, when a mob came for it and its lead eagles were destroyed, and on to August 1944, when Resistance fighters built barricades at this corner and seized a German artillery piece. Look for the plaques on the surrounding streets that still mark where combatants fell.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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