[2] From the "square", actually triangular in shape, one can access the middle of the Pont Neuf, a bridge which connects the left and right banks of the Seine by passing over the Île de la Cité.

It was among the earliest city-planning projects of Henri IV, and was on a site created from part of the western garden of the walled enclave known as the Palais de la Cité (because the Capetian kings had lived there long ago, before the Louvre was built).

One islet was incorporated into filled land which extended the Île de la Cité to the west to form the middle section, the terre-plein, of the Pont Neuf (completed in 1606) and, on the downstream side of the bridge, a platform supporting an equestrian statue of Henri IV (installed in 1614).

[3] Approximately 3 acres of land was conveyed to Achille de Harlay [fr] on 10 March 1607 with instructions to execute a project according to a general plan in which the houses would adhere to a specified and repetitious facade.

The development consisted of two components: a triangular square and a row of houses across from the base of the triangle on the eastern side of the rue de Harlay, with returns extending further east along the quais.