Fontaine des Innocents

The Fontaine des Innocents stands in the center of the square as a graceful Renaissance landmark, but its appearance today is a total reimagining of its original form. Built in fifteen forty-nine, it was initially a three-sided corner fountain nestled against the outer wall of a cemetery, serving as a decorative reviewing stand for the royal entry of King Henry the Second into Paris. When the crowded, unsanitary cemetery behind it was finally closed and demolished in the late eighteenth century, the city nearly destroyed the fountain along with it. A public campaign saved the structure, leading architects to add a fourth side and move it to the center of the newly created market square to transform it into the free-standing monument you see today.