Overview

Lined with cafés and restaurants serving local cuisine, the city centre's largest pedestrianized area is the ideal place in which to relax after a spot of shopping in some of its stylish boutiques. As evening falls, the square's popular cocktail bars, nightclubs and jazz cafés have the crowds thronging in. Inaugurated in 1988 and modelled on the Italian piazza by architect Charlie Bové, the square is located on the site of the former 17th-century Arsenal des Galères prison built during Louis XIV's reign.