Place Saint-Sulpice

The Place Saint-Sulpice is a large public square, dominated on its eastern side by the Church of Saint-Sulpice. It was built in 1754 as a tranquil garden in the Latin Quarter of the 6th arrondissement of Paris.

Place Saint-Sulpice

View of the square and the Fountain of the Four Bishops from the Church of Saint-Sulpice
Shown within Paris
Length	60 m (200 ft)
Width	60 m (200 ft)
Arrondissement	6th
Quarter	Latin Quarter
Coordinates	48°51′3″N 2°20′0″E
Construction
Completion	1754
Denomination	Saint-Sulpice

History as a tourist destination

By 1855, the Place was already a tourist destination, with several omnibuses traversing the square, and the Church highlighted.^[1][2] Ticket offices for the omnibuses and trains opened on the Place by 1857.^[3] By 1867, a “generally well kept water-closet” opened for people who were waiting to change omnibuses, as well as railroad ticket offices.^[4] After the war and insurrection, British and American tourists were directed to see the fountain and flowers sold at the Place.^[5]

As of 1894, the square, laid out in 1811 by Napoleon’s decree, was already described as “Old and New Paris” and a flower market had been established.^[6] As of 1916, motor buses replaced the old omnibus.^[7]

In the 1920s, there was an annual fête in May; stores selling antiques, books, and costumes lined the Place.^[8] In his memoir of those days, Ernest Hemingway wrote in A Moveable Feast about the Place and its sites, both fixed like the benches, trees, statues of bishops, and lions, as well as the unfixed, walking pigeons.^[9] A café on the square, “Café de la Mairie, served food and drinks” to Lost Generation writers, which included Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Djuna Barnes, and Samuel Beckett.^[9][10]

The Café was known in the 1950s and 1960s for its “flair.”^[11] Albert Camus read his daily newspaper there in those times.^[12] By the turn of the Century, this café was “frequented by literary types,” publishers, and students who all enjoyed the inexpensive coffee and “the lack of so many tourists.”^[13]

Several high-end brand shops opened up on the square, including Annick Goutal, Yves St Laurent, and Christian Lacroix.^[13] Shopping is available at Saint-Sulpice for “a wealth of great fashion and household delights.”^[14]

The big draw for tourists has always been the Church,^[2][4][8] but “the entire generous space is beloved by Parisians on lush summer evenings and on frigid February nights.”^[12] The Christmas Fair and an annual June antiques fair attract both locals and tourists.^[12] The fountains, statuary, trees, sculptures, and seminary are also noted in guidebooks, old and new.^{[4][6][8] [12][14][15][16]}

In 1975, George Perec famously wrote, “There are many things on the Place Saint-Sulpice.”^[17] In a Futurist perspective, “Place Saint-Sulpice 2.0 is a layered place, in part a public place, in part a parochial location.”^[18]

Features

In addition to the church, the square features the Fontaine Saint-Sulpice, or Fountain of the Four Bishops (Fontaine des Quatre Evêques),^[9] built in the center of the square between 1844 and 1848,^[12] which was designed by the architect Joachim Visconti.^[4][6][8]

The first photographs of the new fountain in 1848 was by the new technology's inventor, Hippolyte Bayard.^[19]

The fountain presents the statues of four bishops, all known for their excellent preaching, one on each of its sides:

• Bossuet, North, statue by Jean-Jacques Feuchère
• Fénelon, East, statue by François Lanno
• Fléchier, West, statue by Louis Desprez
• Massillon, South, statue by Jacques-Auguste Fauginet [fr]^[8]

Some people call this monumental fountain the Fontaine des Quatre Points cardinaux (lit. the "Fountain of the Four Cardinal Points"). This is a bit of innocent wordplay; none of the four esteemed bishops ever became a cardinal.^[15]

Other features include chestnut trees,^[16] the city hall (French: mairie) of the 6th arrondissement, and the Café de la Mairie, a rendezvous for writers and students,^[12][13] which featured in the 1990 film, La Discrète ("The Discreet"), directed by Christian Vincent, starring Fabrice Luchini and Judith Henry.

Servadoni had planned a coherent square of identical buildings surrounding Saint-Sulpice, but only one, at number 6, was built to his designs; the rest reflect his concepts.^[20] His designs of 1754 had already been extensively reworked by the 1820s.^[21]

Metro stations

___	Located near the Métro stations: Mabillon and Saint-Sulpice.

The square is served by lines 4 and 10.

Gallery

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  Place Saint-Sulpice and Church of Saint-Sulpice viewed from the Rue du Vieux-Colombier
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  A colonne Morris in the Place Saint-Sulpice, 1911
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  Wallace fountain in the Place Saint-Sulpice
• 
  Fontaine Saint-Sulpice