Place Stanislas, Secrets and Transformations

Praised by both locals and thousands of visitors, Place Stanislas is no stranger to compliments. It’s been called beautiful, harmonious, immense, luminous, but did you know it can also be full of surprises? Indeed, Nancy’s favorite square holds a collection of anecdotes and secrets that will only deepen the excitement you feel for it. From its creation to today, Place Stanislas has undergone seven name changes. It was initially called “Place Royale” (Royal Square), later becoming “Place du Peuple” (People’s Square), then “Place Napoléon”. It was in 1851 that it officially took the name Place Stanislas. With over 200 years of existence, this iconic square has witnessed many historical periods, along with their share of good and bad decisions. One of the most notable was when the city transformed it into a massive parking lot, capable of holding 600 cars. This aesthetic misstep, made in the 1960s, was thankfully reversed when the square was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983. In front of you, at the right corner of the building on your left, you might spot a curious metal rod topped with a sun. This is a meridian, installed in 1758 by the clockmaker Michel Ransonet. Unlike a traditional sundial, it works only at noon, marking the exact moment of solar noon in Nancy. Back in the 18th century, when watches could gain or lose five to ten minutes a day, locals would come here to set their clocks by this reliable instrument. In 2005, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Place Stanislas, the city undertook a spectacular restoration that returned the square to its 18th-century splendor. The entire space became pedestrian, and the light-ochre paving stones with their famous black diagonals were restored, just as they were in Stanislas’s time. But the renovation also gave rise to something completely unexpected: Mayor André Rossinot decided to sell the 300,000 old paving stones for one euro each, complete with a certificate of authenticity, with proceeds going to charity. The response was overwhelming—78,000 stones were snapped up in just three weekends, with people queuing for hours. The people of Nancy were literally clamoring to own their own “little piece of Place Stanislas.” Hidden beneath one of the new paving stones, marked with a star, the artist Daniel Denise buried the Livre sous la place, a time capsule containing messages from local residents, a copy of L’Est Républicain from that day, and even a fragment of lunar meteorite—left for future generations who may one day renovate the square again. Today, the magic of the square continues every summer with La Belle Saison, a monumental sound-and-light show that transforms its façades into a vast artistic canvas. Since 2007, this video-mapping spectacle has drawn more than 7.5 million spectators, confirming the square’s extraordinary appeal. Its beauty hasn’t gone unnoticed internationally either: the Lonely Planet guide ranked Place Stanislas as the fourth most beautiful square in the world, placing Nancy among the great destinations worldwide. And to complete this architectural masterpiece, look toward the southwest corner of the square: there stands the Opéra National de Lorraine, housed in the former bishop’s palace. With its classical façade perfectly integrated into Emmanuel Héré’s ensemble, this temple of opera is a reminder that Place Stanislas is not only a historic jewel, but also a vibrant stage for culture and the arts.