Place de la République

Place de la République is defined by the stone fountain at its center, a tiered structure topped by a bronze statue representing the French Republic. This square sits atop land that once belonged to the Cordeliers monastery. In the eighteen fifties, city officials cleared the cramped medieval streets here to make room for wide boulevards and open air. During the construction, workers unearthed hundreds of ancient Roman graves, forcing engineers to divert the project while archaeologists raced to catalog the forgotten skeletons beneath the pavement.