Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection

You are standing before the Bourse de Commerce, a building that has served as a center for Parisian trade, innovation, and art for centuries. Its history actually begins in the sixteenth century as the site of a grand palace for Catherine de Medici, of which only a single, mysterious stone column remains standing today. By the eighteenth century, the city repurposed this circular site into the Halle aux blés, or Wheat Exchange, to secure the food supply for the growing population. To keep the grain dry and well-ventilated, architects designed a massive, circular structure that was remarkably advanced for its time.