You might think we’re going over the top about how great the new Place de la République is, but after over a year and half of work, it’s a real pleasure to have it back, and a pleasant surprise to see how well it’s been done, with much more space for pedestrians, fountains for the kids to play and new street furniture.

Plus, it’s enormous! There’s isn’t anywhere else like it in Paris, so we went down and took some photos…

With its north side now shut to motorised traffic (apart from buses and taxis), reduced space for cars in general and part of rue du Faubourg du Temple pedestrianised too, the place de la République is now a much, much more pleasant space to enjoy on foot.

Nowhere else in the city gives pedestrians this much space!

A water feature at one corner also includes sprays. Kids love both of them already…The (cleaned) statue in the centre – which used to be on a nasty traffic island and impossible to access –  is now surrounded by little fountains, and people have already started sitting around it and using it as a meeting place. Very well done.You can also use the bronze scenes around the statue to brush up on your French history…The new street furniture includes drinking fountains, squared wooden benches, coloured street lamps and subtle but great animated LEDs at night…And while we were worried that the different shades of granite would make the whole place dowdy, they actually tend to brighten it up, giving the place an air of someone continental like Barcelona. A real surprise!

To check out all our photos of the new place de la République, click the play button below, then click the four little arrows bottom right to go into fullscreen mode.