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Bourse du Commerce Review

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Bourse du Commerce

Address: 2 rue de Viarmes, Halles, Paris | Map It

Category: Financial Institutions
Location: The Faubourg St-Honoré and Les Halles

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Fodor's Review:

Best approached from the rear, the old Commerce Exchange looks like a giant spaceship about to lift off. Now home to the Paris Chamber of Commerce, it's worth a stop inside to see the beautifully restored iron-and-glass dome, which Victor Hugo dismissively likened to a jockey's cap. Still, it was the first iron structure built in France, in 1809, atop the wheat market. Behind it, the 100-foot-tall Colonne de Ruggieri is a remnant of the Hôtel de la Reine, a mansion built here in 1572 for Catherine de' Medici. The column, which miraculously escaped destruction through the ages, was used as a platform for stargazing by her powerful astrologer, Cosimo Ruggieri. Legend has it that on stormy nights, a silhouetted figure can be seen in the metal cage at the top. If you want to learn more about the building of the dome, check out the short video simulation of its construction in the Musée des Arts and Métiers.