Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Palmier fountain, also known as the Châtelet fountain or the Victoire fountain, was commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon I to celebrate his military victories (Lodi, Arcole, Rivoli, etc.) and to provide drinking water to Parisians. Directed by engineer François-Jean Bralle, it was completed in 1808 in the form of a column decorated with palm trees, with a gold bronze Victoire at the top, by Louis-Simon Boizot.

The column bears the names of iconic battles such as Lodi, Pyramids, Marengo, Ulm and the seat of Danzig. Four allegorical statues (Vigalance, Justice, Force, Prudence), also by Boizot, decorated its base. In 1858, under the Second Empire, the fountain was moved 12 meters westward when the Châtelet Square was built, and a lower basin surrounded by sphinx was added.

Ranked a historic monument in 1925, the fountain preserves a copy of the original Victoire (transferred to the Carnival Museum in 1950). The sphinxes, carved by Henri-Alfred Jacquemart, spit water jets, while the column remains a symbol of the Napoleonic triumphs and the Parisian urbanism of the 19th century.

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