Square du Temple

The heavy doors of the Grosse Tour still exist and are kept at Château de Vincennes, whose great keep, attributed to Raymond du Temple [fr] of Notre-Dame cathedral, is thought to have been inspired by the nearby Templar fortress.

[2][clarification needed] It was here in the enclos du Temple on the morning of Friday, the 13th of October, 1307 that agents of Philip IV of France arrested Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay charging him with heresy.

The garden includes a gazebo, a playground for children, lawns with the largest open to the public from 15 April to 15 October, fountains and a pond with an artificial waterfall, built from rocks brought in from the forest of Fontainebleau.

The square contains almost 200 varieties of plants, including many exotic species, such as hazel, a Ginkgo biloba, a Honey locust of America, a Pterocarya fraxinifolia, goldenrain tree, Cedrela, and Chinese quince.

Another statue, a bust on a pedestal, is dedicated: "To B. Wilhelm 1781-1842, founder of the French Orphéon [fr]" above a medallion portrait that bears the inscription "To Eugène Delaporte 1818-1886, propagator".

This monument was unveiled in the presence of several hundred people, city and district elected officials, representatives of associations and the Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France.

The Temple area in 1734 - detail of the Turgot map of Paris.
Surviving doors from the Grosse Tour, now found in the Château de Vincennes