Louis XIV Statue on Place des Victoires

Place des Victoires is one of five royal squares in Paris and it happens to be circular! So it's really a Plaza. The superb design is due to the king's master architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, also responsible for parts of Versailles and other jewels in Paris.

The initial statue that depicted Louis XIV standing instead of mounting a horse, was melted down during the French Revolution to make weapons with the bronze.

In 1810, Napoleon commissioned a statue for Marshall Desaix, one of his greatest and most loyal brothers in arms who had died in battle. After Napoleon’s reign, Desaix’s statue was in turn melted down and the current statue of Louis XIV was built.